An Unexpected Finding of a Papillary Fibroelastoma in the Left Ventricle of an Asymptomatic Patient—A Case Report

Background and Clinical Significance: Papillary Fibroelastoma is a benign primary cardiac tumor, commonly located in a valvular position, predominantly on the aortic valve. Case Presentation: We present a 73-year-old male patient with a medical history of chronic lymphatic leukemia, kidney failure, diabetes, and obstructive sleep apnea. In a routinely performed echocardiogram an abnormal structure in the left ventricle was found. The patient presented completely asymptomatically at the time of examination. A cardiac magnetic resonance-scan provided further information about the size and localization of the tumor in the left ventricle, which seemed to be attached to a papillary muscle and was about 1.6 cm in diameter. Due to visible scarring of the myocardia, which was identified in the scan, a cardiac catheter examination was performed. A coronary artery disease was detected with a severe stenosis in three vessels. During an elective bypass-operation, the removal of the structure was performed with an approach through the left atrium, passing the mitral valve using a valve sizer for better exposure. The tumor of 1 cm presented macroscopically with an anemone-like shape. The histopathological examination confirmed the intraoperative assumption of a papillary fibroelastoma, found in an aberrant location. Conclusions: Unexpectedly challenging surgical removals of structures in the left ventricle require innovative techniques with available instruments for better exposure.