A rare case of a cardiac papillary fibroelastoma of the pulmonary valve diagnosed by echocardiography

Abstract

Primary cardiac tumors are rare. The majority of primary tumors of the heart are benign with papillary fibroelastomas being the third most common after myxomas and lipomas respectively. Papillary fibroelastomas represent the most common valvular tumor of the heart. Although benign, papillary fibroelastomas have the potential to cause turbulent flow, thrombus formation, and severe cerebral or coronary embolic disease. The majority of fibroelastomas have been described on the left side of the heart involving the aortic and mitral valves. We present a rare case of a papillary fibroelastoma occurring on the pulmonic valve.

Incidental finding of an asymptomatic pulmonary valve papillary fibroelastoma: A case report

“…Gowda and colleagues proposed that surgery should be considered for asymptomatic PFE patients if the tumor is friable, mobile, or larger than 1 cm in diameter . However, most experts suggest surgical resection irrespective of the symptoms, location, and mobility of PFE, in order to prevent the occurrence of complications . The incidence of recurrence following operation has not yet been reported .…”

Papillary Fibroelastoma of the Pulmonic Valve: Evaluation by Echocardiography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging

“…Cardiac papillary fibroelastoma (CPF) is the third most common primary cardiac tumor after myxoma and lipoma 3 . Although they are usually valvular, they are rarely reported to be on the pulmonic valve 4–6 . Thus, in the largest retrospective series of 725 patients with histopathologically diagnosed CPF, 1 in which the location of the tumor was available (n = 611, 87%), valvular tumors were found most frequently (n = 511, 84%).…”

“…Of the valvular CPFs, the pulmonic valve was the least common (n = 43, 8%) after the aortic (n = 223, 44%), mitral (n = 180, 35%), and tricuspid (n = 65, 15%) valves 1 . Case reports of CPF involving the pulmonic valve, on review of the literature, are rare 4–8 …”

Papillary fibroelastoma of mitral papillary chordae in a young patient

“…It is mostly located to the endocardium of the aortic valve and the mitral valve and non-valvar in a small percent [3]. It is usually small (£1 cm) and has a gelatinous appearance with multiple papillary fronds attached to the endocardium by a short stalk.…”