Title: Safety of Intravenous Thrombolysis in Ischemic Stroke Caused by Left Atrial Myxoma
Volume: 6
Issue: 5
Author(s): Maurizio Acampa, Rossana Tassi, Francesca Guideri, Giovanna Marotta, Lucia Monti, Gianni Capannini, Alfonso Cerase and Giuseppe Martini
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Stroke, atrial myxoma, thrombolysis, Intravenous thrombolytic treatment, cardiac myxomas, haemorragic complications, intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator alteplase, ischemic lesion
Abstract: Intravenous thrombolytic treatment represents the gold standard for acute ischemic stroke treatment. However there is some concern to perform this treatment in patients with known cardiac myxomas for the risk of haemorragic complications. Here we described a 63-year-old patient with ischemic stroke due to embolization of atrial myxoma and treated with intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator alteplase. The patient did not show improvement after treatment; 25 days later a brain CT showed an asymptomatic small hemorrhagic infarction, probably due to the large size of ischemic lesion. The lack of response might be explained by the embolization of a large tumor fragment. One-year after cardiac surgery clinical follow-up did not reveal new neurological signs nor symptoms. This case report suggests that systemic thrombolysis is a safe procedure also in patient with atrial myxoma. The efficacy of therapy seems to be related to embolus composition.
