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By Melissa Fleur Afshar
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When a 67‑year‑old woman was rushed to hospital with chest pain and signs of a heart attack, doctors initially treated her for a routine cardiac emergency. But what they found next—a rare tumor growing inside her heart—would reveal an unusual and potentially dangerous diagnosis that is frequently overlooked.
Doctors were able to diagnose and operate on an atrial myxoma, which is a benign heart tumor that most commonly grows in the left atrium, one of the the heart’s upper chambers.
"Even though it is not a malignant cancer, it can still be dangerous because it can block blood flow or send small clots or pieces to the brain and other organs, causing a stroke or other serious problems,” Dr. Carolyn Lam, a senior consultant cardiologist at the National Heart Centre Singapore, told Newsweek.
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“Doctors usually find atrial myxomas with an ultrasound scan of the heart, and surgery to remove them is often curative with excellent results.”
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Lam was commenting on the recently published medical case report detailing the woman’s ordeal. The paper illustrates how atrial myxomas can closely mimic acute coronary syndromes such as heart attacks, complicating diagnosis and delaying treatment if not carefully investigated.
According to the report, the woman presented to the emergency department with severe chest pain that had come on suddenly.
Nothing in the patient’s medical history presented itself as an explanation for her symptoms—in fact, she had no known cardiovascular risk factors and presented with no signs of heart failure.
Following initial assessment and lab tests, doctors diagnosed the patient with a type of heart attack that occurs when a coronary artery, one of the blood vessels that supply vital oxygen to the heart muscle, becomes partially blocked.
Based on this diagnosis, the woman was a special type of X-ray scan designed to reveal blockages in the coronary arteries.
The imaging, however, revealed perfectly normal arteries around the heart, forcing the doctors to seek an alternative explanation for her symptoms.
Imaging the heart’s structure and movements via ultrasound—the same technique used to create images of fetuses during pregnancy—doctors detected a mobile, one-inch-long mass sticking out of the wall of the left atrium, the chamber of the heart that receives oxygen-rich blood from the lungs.
Based on the shape of the mass and how it lacked internal blood vessels, the doctors believed they were able to identify the obstruction as an atrial myxoma—a diagnosis confirmed by laboratory analysis after the mass was surgically removed two days later.
Follow up scans three days post-surgery revealed normal cardiac function and no traces of the tumor—and the woman was discharged within days.
What Are Atrial Myxomas?
Despite being a noncancerous type of tumor, atrial myxomas—which are rare, although occur more often in women than men—are still dangerous.
Not only can they impede blood flow in the heart, as in this case, but there is also the risk that fragments of the tumor will bleak off into the bloodstream, risking blocking up a blood vessel (an embolism) or even a stroke (where such cuts off blood supply to part of the brain.
Lam said that atrial myxomas are particularly challenging because their symptoms are often nonspecific.
Warning signs can include unexplained shortness of breath, chest discomfort, stroke‑like symptoms in people without typical risk factors, persistent fatigue, leg swelling, or unexplained fevers and weight loss.
“These symptoms do not always mean a heart tumor, but they should not be ignored,” she said. “A simple heart ultrasound can quickly show whether an atrial myxoma is present, and catching it early makes treatment safer and more effective.”
The authors of the case report concluded that echocardiography remains an invaluable diagnostic tool and that early surgical excision is critical. When completely removed, atrial myxomas carry an excellent prognosis with low recurrence rates.
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Reference
Mousati, I., Vermeersch, P., & Meyten, N. (2026). Left Atrial Myxoma as a Rare Cause of Acute Coronary Syndrome: A Case Report. Reports, 9(1), 62. https://doi.org/10.3390/reports9010062
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