Cardiac Sarcomas: Is Tumor Debulking Justifiable Therapy?

Abstract

During a 15-year period from 1982 to 1997, 4 cases out of approximately 12,000 open-heart operations were performed at our institute for malignant cardiac tumors. Three of these tumors were angiosarcomas and one was a high-grade spindle-cell sarcoma. The prognosis for all 4 patients was uniformly poor in spite of maximal tumor debulking and postoperative chemotherapy.

Spontaneous rupture of a right atrial angiosarcoma and cardiac tamponade

“…Dyspnea, productive cough, and hemoptysis suggest pulmonary metastases. The most frequent sites of metastases are the pericardium, lungs, mediastinal lymph nodes, and vertebrae, and metastases are usually present in 66 to 89% of the patients at the time of diagnosis 7,8 . The diagnosis of angiosarcoma is usually difficult and late, despite the different methods used.…”