Papillary fibroelastoma of the heart: report of two cases and review of the literature.

Papillary fibroelastoma is the most common primary cardiac valvular tumor. Historically, papillary fibroelastoma was an incidental autopsy finding, deemed to have no clinical significance. More recently, reports of symptomatic cases of papillary fibroelastoma with complications such as myocardial infarction and stroke have led papillary fibroelastoma to be considered a potentially dangerous lesion. We report 2 cases of symptomatic papillary fibroelastoma, both of which presented with a stroke. Both patients underwent uneventful open-heart surgery. The literature is reviewed, with a compilation of 79 cases.