A 37-year-old man presented with acute chest pain, an unremarkable ECG and mildly elevated cardiac troponin. Coronary CT angiography showed a calcium score of 0 together with the absence of atherosclerotic plaques and normal origin and course of the coronary arteries. Transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography revealed an infracentimetric round-shaped mobile mass attached to a secondary tendinous chord of the anterior mitral valve leaflet. Cardiac magnetic resonance further evidenced localised contrast uptake supporting vascular irrigation, making thrombus unlikely. After surgical excision, the patient had an uneventful postoperative course. Histopathology disclosed the typical collagenous matrix covered by a single cell layer. Although mostly benign, cardiac tumours are prone to embolisation and can thus mimic an acute coronary syndrome. Multimodality imaging has an important role in unmasking the true mechanism, revealing less common aetiologies and elucidating the possibility of curative surgical resection.
Mitral valve prolapse associated with electrocardiogram abnormalities mimicking acute coronary syndrome
