Cor Vasa 2019, 61(1):56-59 | DOI: 10.1016/j.crvasa.2017.12.011

Left atrial myxoma complicated with a myocardial infarction in a 10-year-old boy: A case report and review of the literature

Ahmed Sghaier, Nejeh Ben Halima, Ghada Hamila, Houssem Thabet, Marwa Ben Abdallah, Yossra Messaoudi

Cardiology Department of Ibn El Jazzar University Hospital, Kairouan, Tunisia

A 10-year-old child experienced syncope on exertion, preceded by chest pain and palpitations. The physical exam had no particularities except for a diastolic roll at the mitral area. The initial electrocardiogram showed a ventricular tachycardia successfully wiped out by cardioversion. The electrical control showed an extensive anterior myocardial infarction. Emergency Doppler echocardiography showed a dilated LV, akinesia of the apical and middle segments of the anterolateral wall and of the apex with a reduced LVEF of 35%. A mass covering almost all of the left atrium was noted evoking a myxoma. A thoracic angiography scan and a coronary-scan confirmed the diagnosis, showed anterior cardiac ischemia and normal coronary arteries. The final diagnosis was a left atrial myxoma complicated by a coronary artery embolism. The child underwent surgical resection. Histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis. In this paper, a review of the literature concerning left atrial myxomas complicated with coronary embolisms in children showed the rarity but severity of such association, thus requiring a high degree of clinical awareness to obtain a timely diagnosis and not to delay the treatment.

Keywords: Child, Coronary embolism, Myocardial infarction, Myxoma

Received: September 21, 2017; Revised: December 17, 2017; Accepted: December 23, 2017; Published: March 21, 2019  Show citation