Papillary fibroelastoma in a 63-year-old asymptomatic patient with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation

Abstract

Papillary fibroelastoma (PFE) is the second most frequent benign cardiac tumor. It is located mainly in the heart valves. Because its course is usually clinically silent it is often detected accidentally in transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). Despite the benign nature of the lesion, the histological structure of PFE increases the risk of embolic episodes. Development of imaging techniques as well as their wider accessibility, especially TTE, contributes to the more common detection of this tumor in the general population. In this publication, we present a case of an asymptomatic 63-year-old woman in whom an aortic valve lesion resembling PFE was detected in TTE.