[Embolizing cardiac hibernoma and acute respiratory failure]

Not only ae cardiac hibernomas rare, ante-mortem diagnosis is poor, due to the clinical and radiological similarity with other intracardiac masses. Furthermore, cardiac hibernomas can be asymptomatic and thus escape detection with imaging studies. We present a case of an 81-year-old woman who died as a result of pulmonary tumor embolism. This unusual case highlights the necessity for clinicians and pathologists to be familiar with intra-cardiac neoplasms. We discuss its diagnostic difficulty and the complication of pulmonary tumor embolism.