In patients with cardiac myxoma, tumor mobility rather than size drives embolic potential, which can cause cerebral infarction and delayed complications mimicking central nervous system vasculitis or infective endocarditis.
Neurologic complications are associated with cardiac myxoma in some patients with myxoma and, when they occur, frequently present with cerebral infarction. The mobility, not the size, of the myxoma appears to be related to embolic potential. Potential delayed neurologic complications relevant to patients with tumor embolization include myxoma-induced cerebral aneurysm and myxomatous metastasis, which can mimic the clinical picture of central nervous system vasculitis or infective endocarditis.
Lee et al. (Wed,) studied this question.