An Incidental Myxoma Hidden in Chest Pain

Chest pain is a very common symptom in an emergency context. Its differential diagnosis is extensive and includes some conditions that require immediate recognition and intervention. It can also be a symptom associated with rarer diagnostic possibilities. Here, we report the case of a 53-year-old woman admitted to the emergency department due to chest pain and initially diagnosed with non-ST elevation acute myocardial infarction. A transthoracic echocardiogram revealed a large hyperechogenic round mass, suggestive of a left atrial cardiac myxoma. Coronary angiography showed no significant lesions. The patient underwent cardiac surgery with excision of the mass, whose histological diagnosis was atrial myxoma. The immediate postoperative period was uneventful, and the patient was discharged asymptomatic and without echocardiographic changes. Cardiac tumors are a rare finding, of which myxomas are the most common. Symptoms can typically result from embolism, obstruction, or constitutional symptoms. A myxoma presenting as acute chest pain and mimicking an acute coronary syndrome is an uncommon finding. This case reminds us of an extremely rare differential diagnosis of chest pain and awakens us to the usefulness and importance of using echocardiography as a diagnostic tool.