World Journal of Cardiovascular Diseases, 2017, 7, 429-434
http://www.scirp.org/journal/wjcd
ISSN Online: 2164-5337
ISSN Print: 2164-5329
DOI: 10.4236/wjcd.2017.712041 Dec. 12, 2017 429 World Journal of Cardiovascular Diseases
Assessment of Papillary Fibroelastoma of the
Semilunar Valves by Three-Dimensional
Echocardiography
Leonel Avendaño-Pérez
1
, Nydia Ávila-Vanzzini
2
, Nilda Espinola-Zavaleta
1*
1
Laboratory of Non-Invasive Hemodynamics, National Institute of Cardiology “Ignacio Chávez”, Tlalpan, Mexico
2
Department of Out-Patients Clinic, National Institute of Cardiology “Ignacio Chávez”, Tlalpan, Mexico
Abstract
Papillary fibroelastoma is an uncommon tumor. Recognitions of this tumor
have been improved thanks to modern imaging advances, which have made
more patients to be identified, but at the same time, the management of this
disease is still controversial. There aren’t enough studies to basic clinical ac-
tions. We present 2 interesting cases involving the semilunar valves. The pur-
pose of presenting these cases is to review this rare disease and the superiority of
the three-dimensional echocardiography in their diagnosis.
Keywords
Heart Tumor, Papillary Fibroelastoma, Pulmonary Valve, Aortic Valve,
Echocardiography
1. Background
The valvular papillary fibroelastoma is an uncommon primary cardiac tumor,
ranging from 0.002% to 0.02% in prevalence, [1] [2]. Papillary fibroelastoma is
the third most common primary cardiac tumor (after myxoma and lipoma), ac-
counting for 7% to 9% of benign primary tumors. Previous studies have shown
that papillary fibroelastoma has predilection for left heart valves (ninety-five
percent of these tumors arise from; aortic valve—44.5% more than mitral
valve—36.4%). Papillary fibroelastoma that affects the right heart is unusual and
when it is seen, the pulmonary valve is affected less often than the tricuspid valve
and accounts for 8% of cardiac papillary fibroelastomas [1]. The incidence of
papillary fibroelastoma of the pulmonary valve is reported in Klarich KW et al.
in 1997 to be between 0.00017% and 0.033% at autopsy and 0.019% in clinical
How to cite this paper: Avendaño-Pérez,
L., Ávila-Vanzzini, N. and Espinola-Zavaleta,
N. (2017) Assessment of Papillary Fibroe-
lastoma of the Semilunar Valves by Three-
Dimensional Echocardiography. World Jour-
nal of Cardiovascular Diseases, 7, 429-434.
https://doi.org/10.4236/wjcd.2017.712041
Received: October 31, 2017
Accepted: December 9, 2017
Published: December 12, 2017
Copyright © 2017 by authors and
Scientific Research Publishing Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution International
License (CC BY 4.0).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Open Access