Branch retinal artery occlusion caused by a mitral valve papillary fibroelastoma.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: We studied clinicopathologically a branch retinal artery occlusion caused by an embolus from a mitral valve papillary fibroelastoma. METHODS: At initial examination the patient, a 37-year-old woman, had visual acuity of 20/400 in her left eye, and eight months later her visual acuity improved to 20/20. The diagnosis required echocardiographic and radiologic studies to localize the lesion. RESULTS: The mitral valve papillary fibroelastoma was successfully treated with tumor resection involving the mitral valve. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to diagnose intracardiac papillary fibroelastoma, because it can cause recurrent arterial embolization and because it responds favorably to tumor resection.