Infected cardiac myxomas: state of the problem and a cardiac surgery case

Abstract

The article presents a case of a truly infected heart myxoma in a 25-year-old patient. His main complaint during hospitalization was a daily increase in body temperature for 8 months up to 39 °C. Resection of the tumor was performed. During the surgery, a tumor typical of cardiac myxoma detected. After the operation, the body temperature rose to 37.8 °C for 7 days, which later returned to normal. A feature of the microstructure of this cardiac myxoma was a large number of inflammatory foci in the form of leukocyte infiltrates, often with foci of necrosis and destruction in the center, characteristic of abscesses. In the areas of inflammation there were basophilic clusters of microorganisms, which might be morphologically classified as Toxoplasma gondii. According to the classification of S.G. Revankar et al., the described histological findings allow in this case to diagnose «definite infected cardiac myxoma». The described clinical case is a first confirmed case of myxoma infection in our practice. The characteristic clinical features of the disease are supplemented by the results of histopathological examination, which revealed the causes of the temperature reaction.