Cardiac pseudopyogenic granuloma: a type of vascular hyperplasia in the transplanted heart mimicking pyogenic...

We present a unique case of cardiac pseudopyogenic granuloma in a 61-year-old man that underwent orthotopic heart transplantation for end-stage ischemic heart disease. The lesion was an incidental pathological finding in the allograft removed for chronic graft vascular disease. This lesion is attributed to the minor trauma of the biopsy in the right side of the heart following cardiac transplantation. The cardiac right side can be considered the venous side of the heart; therefore, we consider the lesion a mimicker of an intravenous pyogenic granuloma. Pseudopyogenic granuloma may represent organization of a mural thrombus which formed secondary to biopsy procedure(s). The lesion must be distinguished from bacillary angiomatosis, Karposi sarcoma, and other neoplasms that may present an intravascular type of growth.