Cardiac papillary fibroelastoma; when, how, why?

We would like to present an interesting case operated on in our department and discuss the international bibliography about this issue. We also present some interesting images of this case. Our material is composed from a 68-year-old woman treated by the authors. She presented with a small murmur in the auscultation while she was asymptomatic and then she diagnosed with a tumor on of the left coronary cusp of the aortic valve with the characteristics of papillary fibroelastoma. On the basis of the potential embolic risk either of the mass itself or of associated thrombus and the possibility of further enlargement, the patient although asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis was referred for elective surgical excision of the mass. She underwent on median sternotomy and through extracorporeal circulation the mass has been excised with the preservation of the well-functioning valve. Through this case, we would like to discuss the bibliography for the decision making in these cases. Hence, the aim of our study is that we have to keep in mind that this kind of friable mass may be the cause of embolism, stroke or coronary artery occlusion and must be excided in a conservative setting, sparing the aortic valve.