Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Cardiovascular Diseases logoLink to Cardiovascular Diseases
. 1977;4(4):409–415.

AN UNUSUAL ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC PATTERN OF A LEFT ATRIAL MYXOMA

Jean-Robert Mathurin 1, Ajit V Adyanthaya 1, Lawrence J Petrovich 1, Mauricio Franco 1, Kenneth L Mattox 1, James K Alexander 1
PMCID: PMC287686  PMID: 15216092

Abstract

Unusual echocardiographic findings in a 58-year-old woman with a history of rheumatic fever and an angiographically demonstrated prolapsing left atrial myxoma are presented. With variations of gain and damping controls, it was possible to isolate a more distinct anterior mitral leaflet echo, or a more posterior linear echo, thought to represent the prolapsing tumor. The tumor, instead of presenting as a cloud of echoes behind the anterior mitral valve leaflet, demonstrated an alternate pattern of a single linear dense echo at this location. Echocardiography, though very useful in the diagnosis of left atrial tumors, can be fallible at times.

Full text

PDF
409

Images in this article

410Image
on p.410
412Image
on p.412
412Image
on p.412
413Image
on p.413
414Image
on p.414

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. ADAMS C. W., COLLINS H. A., DUMMIT E. S., ALLEN J. H. Intracardiac myxomas and thrombi. Clinical manifestations, pathology and treatment. Am J Cardiol. 1961 Feb;7:176–187. doi: 10.1016/0002-9149(61)90271-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bass N. M., Sharratt G. P. Left atrial myxoma diagnosed by echocardiography, with observations on tumour movement. Br Heart J. 1973 Dec;35(12):1332–1335. doi: 10.1136/hrt.35.12.1332. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. COHEN A. I., McINTOSH H. D., ORGAIN E. S. The mimetic nature of left atrial myxomas. Report of a case presenting as a severe systemic illness and simulating massive mitral insufficiency at cardiac catheterization. Am J Cardiol. 1963 Jun;11:802–807. doi: 10.1016/0002-9149(63)90109-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. GOODWIN J. F. Diagnosis of left atrial myxoma. Lancet. 1963 Mar 2;1(7279):464–468. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(63)92359-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Ghahramani A. R., Arnold J. R., Hildner F. J., Sommer L. S., Samet P. Left atrial myxoma: hemodynamic and phonocardiographic features. Am J Med. 1972 Apr;52(4):525–532. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(72)90043-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Martinez E. C., Giles T. D., Burch G. E. Echocardiographic diagnosis of left atrial myxoma. Am J Cardiol. 1974 Feb;33(2):281–285. doi: 10.1016/0002-9149(74)90290-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Nasser W. K., Davis R. H., Dillon J. C., Tavel M. E., Helmen C. H., Feigenbaum H., Fisch C. Atrial myxoma. I. Clinical and pathologic features in nine cases. Am Heart J. 1972 May;83(5):694–704. doi: 10.1016/0002-8703(72)90411-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Penny J. L., Gregory J. J., Ayres S. M., Giannelli S., Jr, Rossi P. Calcified left atrial myxoma simulating mitral insufficiency. Hemodynamic and phonocardiographic effects of tumor movement. Circulation. 1967 Sep;36(3):417–421. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.36.3.417. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Schattenberg T. T. Echocardiographic diagnosis of left atrial myxoma. Mayo Clin Proc. 1968 Sep;43(9):620–627. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Selzer A., Sakai F. J., Popper R. W. Protean clinical manifestations of primary tumors of the heart. Am J Med. 1972 Jan;52(1):9–18. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(72)90003-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Tallury V. K., DePasquale N. P. Ultrasound cardiography in the diagnosis of left atrial thrombus. Chest. 1971 May;59(5):501–503. doi: 10.1378/chest.59.5.501. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Wolfe S. B., Popp R. L., Feigenbaum H. Diagnosis of atrial tumors by ultrasound. Circulation. 1969 May;39(5):615–622. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.39.5.615. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Cardiovascular Diseases are provided here courtesy of Texas Heart Institute

RESOURCES