Intravenous Thrombolysis for Acute Ischemic Stroke Due to Cardiac Myxoma

Abstract

Background: Myxoma may cause systemic embolization and frequently presents as ischemic stroke.  Case Presentation: There have been debates about whether it is safe to use recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) in patients with cardiac myxoma who referred with ischemic stroke to the hospital's emergency.  Results: The patient was a young case of atrial myxoma with initial presentation of acute cerebral infarction symptoms who was treated with intravenous rt-PA with no complications. Conclusion: The case provides an evidence of the efficacy and safety of intravenous rt-PA in cases of cardiac myxoma. However, we cannot always expect thrombolytic therapy to be effective, especially in tumor emboli.