Myxoma of the left atrium revealed by a stroke in a young female patient: case report

Abstract

Introduction: Cardiac myxoma is a primary benign tumor most often located in the left atrium and it is a rare source of cerebral stroke of young subjects. Case Presentation: We report the case of a young women with cardiac myxoma revelated by hemiplegia. The patient suddenly presented vertigo followed by a fall, a heaviness of her left body, and dysarthria. The brain CT scan and magnetic resonance imaging have revealed cerebral ischemia located in the right Sylvian territory. Transthoracic echocardiography highlighted a round cardiac mass, mobile, heterogeneous, multilobed, appended to the interatrial septum and the atrial side of the large mitral valve by wide implantation and measuring 38x25mm in the parasternal short axis (PSAX) and apical 4 chamber views evocative of left atrium myxoma. After the surgical resection, which was postponed for a month, the removed tumor was sent for histopathological examination. The morphological examination revealed a myxoid tumor proliferation compatible with cardiac myxoma expressing calretinin by these tumor cells in the immunohistochemical study. Conclusions: Left atrium myxoma is a benign cardiac tumor and a rare cause of ischemic stroke. Transthoracic echocardiography facilitates the diagnosis of this tumor which will then be confirmed by histological analysis.