Dr Girish Chandra Varma, Cardio-thoracic surgeon add head of the department at the NMC Specialty Hospital, Dubai, told Gulf News: “The patient, Janak Bahadur Karki, was suffering from a rare benign tumour called left atrial myxoma. The 37-year-old laundryman working at a Dubai-based five-star hotel came to me two weeks ago with classic symptoms of valve disease. He was complaining of incessant coughing and breathlessness. A scan revealed the huge myxoma was growing between the walls of the left and right atrium. The tumour almost blocked the left side of his mitral valve. He came to us at the right time as there was a risk of the tumour getting attached to the walls of the atrium,” said Dr Varma.