Malignant cardiac neoplasms are rare but lethal

Abstract

Background: Primary cardiac neoplasms are rare and occur less commonly than metastatic disease of the heart which sarcomas are the largest group of them and have a mesenchymal origin. metastases to or direct invasion of the heart are far more common, and many tumor types are reported in the literature such as breast cancer, lung cancer, melanoma and various sarcomas. The prognosis after surgery is usually excellent in the case of benign tumors, but the prognosis of malignant tumors remains dismal. Patients and methods: We are about to report through 5 cases of malignant cardiac tumors hospitalized in our department and treated later with cardiac surgery, the subtypes of cardiac masses and their diagnosis and prognosis (follow-up) features with literature review. Results: Five cases of cardiac neoplasms had been reported in this work; that can be classified in one case of primary cardiac origin and 4 cases as secondary to metastases (breast cancer, lung cancer, osteosarcoma and mediastinal thymoma). Echocardiogram was the main exploration technique to be performed and thoracic CT was performed in all cases. Cardiac surgery was the main treatment in only one case, but the others palliative treatment was the case. Conclusion: Malignant cardiac masses are infrequent and often asymptomatic, most of the time they are secondary to extra cardiac tumor. Early diagnosis of cardiac tumors necessitates a high level of suspicion. Therefore, surgery remains the cornerstone in the therapy of cardiac sarcomas and it should be attempted once it is technically feasible.