Acute collapse of a left atrial myxoma caused by multiple internal hemorrhages: a case report and literature review

Abstract Background: Left atrial myxoma is the most common benign tumor. Its growth rate is still unknown because it does not present specific symptoms until before the tumor grows to a certain size; early surgical management is performed in most of cases once physicians detect it. Despite the common perception of cardiac myxomas as slow-growing tumors, some authors have reported rapid enlargement of myxomas. Case presentation: A 64-year-old woman was referred to our hospital with a diagnosis of left atrial tumor. The pointed tumor changed morphologically in a few hours and her respiratory condition, which had been normal at admission, suddenly deteriorated. Emergent surgery was performed, and the diagnosis was myxoma with multiple intratumor massive hematomas. The patient recovered uneventfully and was discharged on postoperative day 12 without any complications. Conclusions: We report an extremely rare case of left atrial myxoma collapsed by acute multiple hemorrhages within itself. Massive internal hemorrhage alters the size, shape, and fragility of the tumor. We should recognize the potential risk of internal hemorrhage, which leads to acute deterioration in myxomas, that are so called ‘slow-growing benign’ tumors.