Cardiac lipoma-induced neonatal hypoxemia: a case report underscoring radiological diagnosis and a literature review

Cardiac tumors in neonates are exceedingly rare, with cardiac lipomas representing an exceptionally uncommon subtype associated with high mortality due to hemodynamic compromise. This report presents a 2-day-old Arab male neonate admitted with acute hypoxemia and cardiomegaly. Echocardiography and CT imaging revealed a large hyperechoic, fatty-density mass (3.8 × 3.5 × 3.3 cm) in the left ventricle, suggestive of a cardiac lipoma, but biopsy or surgical intervention could not be performed due to rapid clinical deterioration culminating in fatal cardiopulmonary failure. This case underscores the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges of neonatal cardiac tumors, highlighting the need for clinical suspicion and early prenatal surveillance to avoid their life-threatening mass effects and enable multidisciplinary planning. Future research should prioritize biomarkers, risk-stratification tools, and improved imaging algorithms to facilitate timely diagnosis and intervention in low-resource contexts.