Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Cardiac hemangiomas are slow-growing benign tumours of the heart. Patients may be asymptomatic or present a multitude of signs or symptoms. METHODS: We report herein the case of a 72-year-old woman with a giant right atrial mass. The patient suffers from abdominal swelling related to ascites. The histological examination of the tranjugular biopsy suspected an atrial myxoma. RESULTS: The patient was scheduled for surgical excision of the cardiac tumour. Radical resection of a 13 cm mass was performed. The histological diagnosis revealed cardiac hemangioma. CONCLUSION: Cardiac hemangiomas can rarely grow larger than 5 cm, cause few symptoms, and are easily confused with atrial myxomas. Hepatomegaly and ascites may be signs of cardiac hemangioma.