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A Rare Case of Cardiac Papillary Fibroelastoma Involving the Tricuspid Valve

Maryna Popp Switzer, Yasmin Sabet, Juan Remirez, Enoch Agunanne, Fatima Saifuddin, Christina Olivas-Chacon, Debabrata Mukherjee, Aamer Abbas

Med Sci Case Rep 2015; 2:21-24

DOI: 10.12659/MSCR.894378

BACKGROUND: Primary cardiac tumors are a relatively rare occurrence, with a broad differential diagnosis. Papillary fibroelastoma is an infrequently found tumor that is being discovered at a higher incidence due to better image quality of echocardiograms, among other reasons.
CASE REPORT: We present the case of a 74-year-old woman who was found to have a mass attached to the anterior leaflet of the tricuspid valve. Transesophageal echocardiography revealed a mobile, heterogenous mass in the right atrium attached to the base of the anterior tricuspid leaflet, which was further characterized by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging to be pedunculated and exophytic, suggestive of papillary fibroelastoma. These are usually located on the cardiac valves and are most commonly found in the left side of the heart; however, the location on the tricuspid valve of our patient makes this an unusual case.
CONCLUSIONS: Papillary fibroelastoma should be included in differential diagnosis of a cardiac mass. With technological advances, echocardiogram and a cardiac MRI are both useful modalities that can aid in making a correct diagnosis.

Keywords: Echocardiography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Tricuspid Valve

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