Why the study?
Cardiac lipomas are very rare benign tumors of the heart that are usually asymptomatic and often incidental findings on cardiac imaging.
This case highlights that large cardiac lipomas can cause significant anatomical obstruction, such as superior vena cava stenosis, while remaining clinically asymptomatic.
Supports watchful waiting for asymptomatic cardiac masses with venous obstruction; extends sparse literature on lipoma natural history.
Cardiac lipomas are very rare benign tumors of the heart. They are usually asymptomatic and are often an incidental finding on cardiac imaging. This case report involves an 82-year-old female with a history of diabetes admitted because of poor glycemic control. An echocardiogram requested because of arrhythmias and heart failure revealed a tumor in the right atrium. Computed tomographic and ultrasound appearances were consistent with a lipoma and demonstrated a large mass in the right atrium, causing a significant stenosis of the superior vena cava but no clinical symptoms or signs of superior vena cava syndrome.
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Bergmann et al. (2021) studied this question.
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