CARDIAC PSEUDOPYOGENIC GRANULOMA - A TYPE OF VASCULAR HYPERPLASIA IN THE TRANSPLANTED HEART MIMICKING PYOGENIC GRANULOMA

We present a unique case of cardiac pseudopyogenic granuloma in a 61-y ear-old man that underwent orthotopic heart transplantation for end-st age ischemic heart disease. The lesion was an incidental pathological finding in the allograft removed for chronic graft vascular disease. T his lesion is attributed to the minor trauma of the biopsy in the righ t side of the heart following cardiac transplantation. The cardiac rig ht side can be considered the Venous side of the heart; therefore, we consider the lesion a mimicker of an intravenous pyogenic granuloma. P seudopyogenic granuloma may represent organization of a mural thrombus which formed secondary to biopsy procedure(s). The lesion must be dis tinguished from bacillary angiomatosis, Karposi sarcoma, and other neo plasms that may present an intravascular type of growth. (C) 1997 by E lsevier Science Inc.