[Cardiac papillary fibroelastoma. Experience of an institution]

Primary intracardiac tumors are rare, with prevalence between 0.0017% and 0.19% from non-selected autopsy studies. Approximately 75% are benign and almost half of them are myxomas. The remaining tumors are divided among rhabdomyomas, lipomas and fibroelastomas. Myxomas are the most common intracardiac tumors in adult age and rhabdomyomas the most common among pediatric population. Papillary fibroelastoma (PFE) is a relative rare benign heart tumor, corresponding to approximately 8% of intracardiac tumors. They most commonly manifested in cardiac valves. In the past, they either consisted of necropsy findings or were found in surgical procedures at random. In vivo diagnosis was sporadic. With the improvement of echocardiography techniques, PFE has been more frequently diagnosed. They are usually described as a movable, pedunculate, well-delimited mass and with predilection for valve endocardium. Therapeutic proposal, when they are pedunculate, is surgical resection, preventing cerebral, pulmonary, coronary or peripheral embolic phenomena. Five cases diagnosed in our institution, in the period from August 1995 to June 2004, will be presented.