Giant right atrial hemangioma: Correlation between magnetic resonance imaging and histopathologic evaluation

Rheumatism as a cause of cardiac hemangioma: a rare case report and review of literature with special focus on etiology

BACKGROUND

Cardiac hemangioma is a very rare benign tumor of the heart which accounts for 1-2% of all primary cardiac tumors. Multiple cardiac hemangiomas are even rarer with only three cases published in the literature. Pathologically it can be divided into cavernous hemangioma, capillary hemangioma, arteriovenous hemangioma, mixed-type hemangioma, and so on. At present, the etiology of cardiac hemangioma is not completely clear. In this study, we present multiple cardiac hemangiomas located in the right atrium and discuss the new unreported possible cause (rheumatism) of cardiac hemangioma. This is the fourth case of multiple cardiac hemangiomas in the medical literature and the first time to present rheumatism as the cause of cardiac hemangioma.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 53-year-old man presented to the clinic with intermittent chest tightness and shortness of breath for 2 years. On echocardiography, multiple soft tissue masses in the right atrium were found. The patient had rheumatic heart disease with severe mitral stenosis and moderate tricuspid regurgitation. Two masses with a diameter of about 20 mm and 15 mm were seen in the right atrium. One mass was located on the inferior margin of the fossa ovalis and the other was adjacent to the inferior vena cava. Both masses were successfully removed surgically. The mitral valve replacement and tricuspid valve plasty were performed at the same time. The postoperative histopathology results confirmed the diagnosis of cavernous hemangioma.

CONCLUSION

The occurrence of multiple hemangiomas in the heart is possible, especially in the presence of rheumatism. Rheumatism is one of the possible etiologies of cardiac hemangioma. Cardiologists and cardiac surgeons should be aware of its occurrence and should consider cardiac hemangioma as a differential diagnosis especially in rheumatic heart disease patients when they present with soft tissue cardiac masses for accurate management.

Atrial Hemangioma: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

A primary cardiac tumor is a rare clinical entity which was reported an incidence of 0.03% in previous autopsy series. 75% cardiac tumors are cardiac myxoma and cardiac hemangiomas constitute only 1–2% of primary cardiac tumors. With the development of modern medical imaging technology and the enhancement of people’s health awareness, more and more asymptomatic cardiac hemangiomas were found and confirmed eventually. Here, we described a case of a 71-year-old man, who was hospitalized with intermittent palpitation for 1 year and a large mass of the heart was removed successfully via sternotomy which was confirmed as atrial hemangioma by postoperative histopathology. Furthermore, a comprehensive review of atrial hemangioma was conducted to date and a few recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of this uncommon disorder were provided for clinicians.