Right atrial myxoma. A cause of septic pulmonary emboli in an adolescent female

J Adolesc Health Care. 1990 Jul;11(4):351-4. doi: 10.1016/0197-0070(90)90047-6.

Abstract

An adolescent girl presented with fever, headache, and mental status changes. Blood cultures 12 hours after admission were positive for Staphylococcus aureus. The initial evaluation did not reveal a source of the patient's sepsis. Forty-eight hours after admission a cardiac ejection click was detected. The chest radiograph showed ill-defined opacities compatible with pulmonary emboli in the right lung and a calcific density in the region of the right atrium. Echocardiogram confirmed the presence of a right atrial mass, which at surgery and upon histologic examination was a myxoma. Atrial myxomas are rare tumors in adolescents but should be considered in the differential diagnosis of suspected septic pulmonary emboli.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Echocardiography
  • Female
  • Heart Atria / diagnostic imaging
  • Heart Neoplasms / complications*
  • Heart Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Humans
  • Myxoma / complications*
  • Myxoma / diagnosis
  • Pulmonary Embolism / etiology*
  • Radiography