An asymptomatic papillary fibroelastoma arising from the right atrial septum in a man in his early 40s was surgically resected with an uneventful course and no thromboembolic events over 14 months, and transthoracic echocardiography is a robust modality for diagnosing and characterizing this rare tumor.
The authors report an exceedingly rare case of an asymptomatic papillary fibroelastoma arising from the right atrial septum in a patient in his early 40s.
The authors retrospectively reviewed previously reported cases of papillary fibroelastoma arising in the right atrium and interatrial septum.
The lesion was considered to carry embolic risk, including possible pulmonary embolism for right-sided lesions, and was surgically resected because of its morphology and mobility.
The patient had an uneventful postoperative course with no perioperative embolic complications and no thromboembolic events during 14 months of follow-up.
Transthoracic echocardiography was a robust modality for diagnosing and morphologically characterizing this rare cardiac neoplasm.
This case report describes a man in his early 40s who was found to have a small benign heart tumor called a papillary fibroelastoma. It grew from the wall between the upper chambers of the heart on the right side, which is a very unusual location. He had no symptoms. The authors also looked back at previously published cases of similar tumors in the right atrium and the wall between the atria. The tumor was attached by a stalk and moved freely. Tumors like this can in theory shed fragments that travel through the blood, and on the right side of the heart this could cause a blockage in the lungs (pulmonary embolism). Because of this, the surgical team removed it. His recovery was uneventful, and he had no clot-related events and remained symptom-free during 14 months of follow-up. This research suggests that a standard heart ultrasound through the chest wall (transthoracic echocardiography) can identify and describe these rare tumors well. As a single case report with a literature review, it cannot show how often such tumors cause problems or which treatment is best for every patient, but it adds to the limited information on right-sided and septal fibroelastomas.
Li J, Liu W, Li X, Wang Z, Wang Y, Yu H, et al.. (2026). Cardiac papillary fibroelastoma arising from the right atrial septum: A rare case report.. The Journal of international medical research. https://doi.org/10.1177/03000605261496678