Surgical Excision of a rare cardiac tumour: Cardiac Hibernoma

We report a case of cardiac hibernoma, which is a very rare type of benign lipomatous tumour. They are usually asymptomatic and therefore remain undetected or are found incidentally. When symptomatic, they vary and depend on location of heart involved. The patient had a hibernoma on right atrial wall invading the intra-atrial groove and extending over superior vena cava (SVC), causing significant symptoms of SVC obstruction and tamponade. The patient therefore underwent emergency operation, in which the tumour was resected and the right atrium was reconstructed with Bovine pericardial patch. He was discharged home well.