A right atrial myxoma presenting with misleading features of acalculous cholecystitis

Abstract

Diffuse thickening, a layered appearance of the gallbladder wall and the accumulation of surrounding fluid are considered as sensitive and relatively specific imaging findings of gallbladder inflammation. In the absence of gallstones, the diagnosis of acalculous cholecystitis can be further supported by the presence of fever, epigastric pain, right upper abdominal quadrant (RUQ) tenderness on inspiration and elevated markers of inflammation. In this report, we describe a 35-year-old schoolteacher who presented with all of the above clinical, laboratory and imaging findings that were eventually attributed to gallbladder oedema and liver congestion (abdominal imaging and RUQ tenderness) caused by an atrial myxoma interfering, with the atrioventricular circulation of the right heart and causing constitutional manifestations (fever and elevated markers of inflammation).