Brain Tumor Causing Atrial Fibrillation in an Otherwise Healthy Patient

Abstract

We report a case of a 57-year-old man who presented with an episode of syncope resulting in an accident. On presentation, he was found to have atrial fibrillation (AF). A brain imaging done to exclude intracranial hemorrhage revealed a brain tumor instead. Recently, AF has been used as a marker for occult cancer. Thus, we hypothesize that AF in our patient was a result of the existing brain tumor and not simply a coincidence. AF may help in diagnosing brain tumors in asymptomatic or oligosymptomatic patients at an early stage, decreasing mortality and morbidity significantly.