Endovascular thrombectomy after intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (bridging therapy) for embolic stroke due to cardiac myxoma: a case report / 中华神经科杂志

ABSTRACT

Myxomas are the most frequent, cardiac benign cardiac tumors which often present with stroke caused by tumorous orthrombotic emboli. The treatment of embolic stroke due to cardiac myxoma is still a clinical and technical challenge. A 61-year-old man who had an embolic stroke in the left middle cerebral artery was admitted to the Third Poeple′s Hospital of Huizhou. The initial National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score was 16. He received endovascular thrombectomy after intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) one hour after stroke onset. No intracranial hemorrhage developed. Pathological study of embolus showed a myxoma. A cardiac mass was found in the left atrium and removed surgically three weeks after stroke. Pathological study of the tumor showed a myxoma. At the one-month follow-up after excision of myxoma, the NIHSS score was 1 and the modified Rankin scale score was 0. No recurrence of embolism occurred after surgical resection. Endovascular thrombectomy after intravenous rt-PA (bridging therapy) for embolic stroke due to cardiac myxoma is safe and effective, and early resection of atrial myxoma can effectively avoid recurrence of cerebral infarction.