[Pericardial lipoma as the cause of extensive mediastinal space-occupying lesion].

Lipomas of the heart are benign neoplasias and have rarely been described. Due to the fact that they normally cause no symptoms, diagnosis is often purely accidental. In the current report, the case of a 55-year-old patient is described in whom serial chest x-rays showed massive, progressive cardiac enlargement. Echocardiography and NMR showed a large pericardial mass confirmed by subsequent surgery which revealed a giant pericardial lipoma.