Affiliation:
1. University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Forensic Medicine “Milovan Milovanović”, Belgrade, Serbia
2. Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases “Dedinje”, Department of Cardiology, Belgrade, Serbia
Abstract
Introduction. Even though lipomas are the most common benign tumors, they are rarely found in the pericardial cavity. Although histopathologically benign, they can cause life-threatening complications by rapid growth and may there-fore be clinically considered malignant. Case report. We present an 80-year-old female who was injured during a syncopal episode when falling from a standing height and suffered bodily injuries for which she was hospitalized. In the further course of her short-term hospital treatment, death occurred, and the cause of death was marked as ?un-known?. At the autopsy, a dilated and tense pericardium filling up a large part of the chest cavity was noted. A well-encapsulated soft tissue mass, 2 0 ? 1 8 ? 3 cm in size, weighing 820 g, was visualized in the pericardial cavity. Histopathological examination revealed that the mass was a lipoma and showed acute myocardial necrosis; therefore, it was assumed that the cause of death was probably due to the compression of lipoma on coronary arteries. Conclusion. Even though intrapericardial lipomas are benign tumors, they can cause life-threatening complications and sudden cardiac death. There are numerous diagnostic methods capable of detecting intrapericardial lipomas, and with timely treatment, the patient can be cured.
Publisher
National Library of Serbia