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Updated: Jun 10, 2026
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Morphological and Functional Assessment of the Right Ventricle Using 3D Echocardiography
Published on: October 28, 2020
Extensive cardiac lipoma with aneurysmal right ventricle
Yeon Song1, Weston Hickey, Faisal Nabi
1Cardiovascular Imaging Section, Department of Cardiology, The Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center, 6550 Fannin Street, SM-677, Houston, TX 77080, USA. yksong@tmhs.org
Interactive Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery
|August 6, 2010
Summary
A large cardiac lipoma encasing the heart and a right ventricular aneurysm caused congestive heart failure symptoms in a patient with prior cardiac surgery. Surgical intervention successfully addressed both the lipoma and aneurysm.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Cardiac Surgery
- Cardiovascular Imaging
Background:
- A 56-year-old female with a history of mitral valve replacement and automated implantable cardioverter-defibrillator presented with progressive dyspnea on exertion and recurrent ascites.
- Symptoms suggested advanced heart failure, prompting comprehensive cardiac evaluation.
Observation:
- Cardiac imaging, including echocardiography and CT angiography, identified a large lipoma encasing the heart and a right ventricular free wall aneurysm.
- The cardiac lipoma measured 11.5×6.5×5 cm and was composed of adipose tissue without evidence of malignancy.
Findings:
- The patient underwent successful surgical repair of the tricuspid valve and resection of the right ventricular aneurysm.
- A portion of the cardiac lipoma was also resected, with gross specimen confirming benign adipose tissue.
Implications:
- This case highlights the potential for cardiac lipomas and ventricular aneurysms to cause significant heart failure symptoms.
- Multimodality cardiac imaging is crucial for diagnosing rare cardiac masses and structural abnormalities.
- Surgical management can effectively treat symptomatic cardiac lipomas and aneurysms, improving patient outcomes.
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