Abstract
Cardiac angiofibroma is a very rare diagnosis when a patient develops an
intracardiac mass. It is a primary benign cardiac tumor with a scarcity
of information in the literature.
This case report illustrates a 26-year-old man with a complaint of
chronic chest tightness who was firstly diagnosed with right ventricle
tumor by echocardiography then underwent cardiac MRI which confirmed the
presence of a highly-vascular tumor with radiologically benign behavior.
Then his tumor was excised, his postoperative course was uncomplicated
and he was well within almost 2 months after discharge. Ultimately the
histopathologic findings demonstrated vascular and stromal tissue in
favor of angiofibroma and excluded the other diagnoses with IHC and
trichrome staining.
Angiofibroma is a benign, highly vascular tumor, mostly discovered in
the nasopharynx. When it is found in the heart, CMR and pathology are
pivotal to rule in its diagnosis. It is isointense in T1 weighted and
hyperintense in T2 weighted sequences with intense enhancement following
contrast injection. Its pathology contains an admixture of vasculatures
with CD31 positive immunoreactivity for endothelial cells and fibrotic
tissue with bluish coloration in trichrome staining. Eventually, its
treatment includes merely surgical excision given its benign nature.
Keywords: Cardiac tumor; Cardiac mass; Angiofibroma; benign
tumor; Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging; Histopathology; Median
sternotomy; Minimally invasive cardiac surgery