Diagnostic mystery—a rare right ventricular cardiac hemangioma: a case report

BACKGROUND: Cardiac hemangiomas are rare in all kinds of benign cardiac tumors. Although cardiac hemangiomas affect all ages and may occur anywhere within the heart, right ventricular hemangiomas are extremely uncommon. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a 56-year-old woman presented with chest tightness and breath shortness for 3 months. Transthoracic echocardiography and coronary computed tomography angiography showed a mass located adjacent to the apex of the right ventricle but both failed to figure out where the mass originated from, remaining a diagnostic mystery preoperatively. The mass was removed successfully and the histopathological examination confirmed it was hemangioma. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac magnetic resonance should be the ultimate diagnostic tool of cardiac tumors. Surgical removal, associated with a low recurrence rate and long-term survival benefits, should be the first choice of therapy for cardiac hemangiomas.