Cordeiro Piçarra Bruno, Santos Ana Rita, Dionísio Pedro, Vasconcelos João, Banazol Nuno, Lourenço Sílvia, Caetano Fátima, Jara António
Serviço de Cardiologia, Hospital do Espírito Santo, Évora, Portugal.
Rev Port Cardiol. 2012 Feb;31(2):171-4. doi: 10.1016/j.repc.2011.12.001. Epub 2012 Jan 9.
Free-floating right atrial thrombi are rare but associated with high mortality. Although advances in echocardiography have improved diagnosis, their management is still the subject of debate. A 24-year-old woman with a history of smoking, obesity and oral contraceptive use presented to the emergency department with dyspnea, cough and hemoptysis. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a large free-floating cardiac mass occupying the right atrial chamber and restricting tricuspid valve opening. In view of recurrent pulmonary embolism, she was referred for cardiac surgery and the cardiac mass was excised. Anatomopathological analysis revealed an organized and calcified thrombus. Genetic study showed her to be homozygous for the 4G/4G allelic variant of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and heterozygous for the allelic variant A1298C of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase.
