Left atrial myxoma as a rare cause of stroke

Cerebrovascular events may attribute to the fragmentation of a cardiac tumor. Due to the small number of reported cases of large vascular occlusion-acute ischemic stroke (LVO-AIS) associated with atrial myxoma, current guidelines still follow the principle of intravenous thrombolysis priority, even if LVO-AIS patients are eligible for mechanical thrombectomy, and have not recommended the timing of cardiac surgery or preoperative anticoagulation and antithrombotic therapy. Surgical removal is the definitive therapy for cardiac myxomas, especially for left-sided myxomas. With this case, we aim to demonstrate the main challenges that clinicians may encounter when dealing with patients with AIS secondary to cardiac myxoma: the difficulties with clinical diagnosis, strategies for reperfusion therapy, and therapeutic management of cardiac myxoma.