Abstract
Acute postoperative respiratory distress may be caused by pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, heart failure, pneumothorax or atelectasis. We present s case report of a 78-year-old female patient who developed acute respiratory distress one day following knee arthroscopy. Because of the suspicion of pulmonary embolism, a computed tomographic angiography was made, showing the presence of an unexpected large left atrial mass, suggestive for a myxoma. She underwent successful resection of a 10 × 5 cm myxoma one week later. The report discusses the clinical manifestations of an atrial myxoma and its potentially fast growth. Bedside echocardiography should be considered the preferred diagnostic modality in case of acute postoperative respiratory distress.
Highlights
Acute postoperative respiratory distress following noncardiac surgery can be a serious adverse event, and is most often caused by pneumonia, pulmonary embolus, pneumothorax, atelectasis and heart failure [1]
Acute postoperative respiratory distress may be caused by pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, heart failure, pneumothorax or atelectasis
In this brief report we present a case of acute postoperative pulmonary edema due to an unsuspected, previously asymptomatic, large left atrial myxoma
Summary
Acute postoperative respiratory distress following noncardiac surgery can be a serious adverse event, and is most often caused by pneumonia, pulmonary embolus, pneumothorax, atelectasis and heart failure [1]. Acute postoperative respiratory distress may be caused by pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, heart failure, pneumothorax or atelectasis. We present s case report of a 78-year-old female patient who developed acute respiratory distress one day following knee arthroscopy. Because of the suspicion of pulmonary embolism, a computed tomographic angiography was made, showing the presence of an unexpected large left atrial mass, suggestive for a myxoma.
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