A heart within the heart--a rare congenital cause of an embolic stroke

BMJ Case Rep. 2012 Jul 3:2012:bcr1020115027. doi: 10.1136/bcr.10.2011.5027.

Abstract

The authors report the case of an 87-year-old lady who presented with a right middle cerebral artery territory infarct in whom the authors diagnosed a probable ruptured blood cyst attached to her anterior mitral valve leaflet, with the use of trans-thoracic and trans-oesophageal echocardiography. Embolic strokes are recognised as a rare complication of intracardiac blood cysts, with very few cases previously reported. Echocardiography was first used to identify a blood cyst in 1983 and remains an excellent modality to diagnose this rare condition.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Cysts / complications*
  • Cysts / diagnosis
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Echocardiography, Transesophageal
  • Female
  • Heart Neoplasms / complications*
  • Heart Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Humans
  • Intracranial Embolism / complications*
  • Intracranial Embolism / diagnosis
  • Mitral Valve*
  • Stroke / diagnosis
  • Stroke / etiology*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed