Trends in cardiac metastasis

Karwinski, B.; Svendsen, Einar

doi:10.1111/j.1699-0463.1989.tb00512.x

Cited by 38 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Twenty-two percent of the patients had no metastases present at the time of death. Of note, melanoma has a relatively high incidence of cardiac metastases [32] and a rare isolated case of a left atrial metastasis in the setting of a primary esophageal melanoma was recently reported [33].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus

et al. 1997

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus

et al. 1997

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…With increased longevity, a trend of increased incidence of CM has been shown in different studies. [5][6][7] Because of the above-mentioned factors, together with the widespread use of modern imaging techniques, an increase in the frequency of the antemortem diagnosis of CM is to be expected in the near future.…”

Section: Case Reportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cardiac metastases

et al. 2008

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cardiac metastaseswith induction chemotherapy, with a poor response. Radiotherapy was initiated in order to reduce dysphagia. After 10.8-Gy radiotherapy was stopped because of increasing dyspnea arising from the narrowed left major bronchus (produced by local progression of the tumor), the placement of a bronchial stent was necessitated. At the same time, a second stent was placed in the esophagus to relieve the dysphagia. Palliative radiotherapy was given in fi ve daily fractions of 4 Gy, with marked alleviation of the dysphagia.In December 2006 he developed atypical chest pain. CT of the chest at that time showed regression of the esophageal tumor; but, surprisingly, cardiac metastasis was seen (Fig. 2). On echocardiography left ventricular function appeared normal. A dense hyperechogenic mass was seen in the myocardium, with a small amount of pericardial effusion. Palliative radiotherapy was delivered with anteriorposterior opposing fi elds. Radiation portals encompassed the CM with a margin of 1.5 cm to make sure that, with cardiac motion, the target volume remained in the portal. In order to shorten the treatment period, we prescribed a total dose of 20 Gy, in daily fractions of 4 Gy. Three weeks after the initiation of the palliative radiotherapy his symptoms were alleviated. Unfortunately we could not confi rm this subjective relief with chest CT, because the patient died of aspiration pneumonia 10 weeks after the initiation of the palliative radiotherapy. No autopsy was performed. Discussion and review of the literature EpidemiologyAlthough cardiac metastases (CM) are much more common than primary cardiac tumors, the diagnosis of CM antemortem is seldom made, because more than 90% are clinically silent. About 75% of primary cardiac tumors are benign and 25% are malignant (4% primary malignancy and 96% CM). According to the literature, CM have been found in 1.5%-20% of autopsies of cancer patients and in 0.2%-6.5% of subjects in unselected autopsy series. Abstract We report a case of esophageal cancer with symptomatic metastases to the heart; the patient was treated with short-course radiotherapy with good symptomatic relief. We reviewed the current literature regarding the epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnostic tools, treatment modalities, and the prognosis of cardiac metastases. In this report we summarize the most recent autopsy studies (published between 1975 and 2007), in which we found an autopsy incidence of cardiac metastases of 2.3% among the general population, while the incidence among autopsies of cancer patients was 7.1%. Therefore, we share the opinion with others that there has been an increase in the incidence of cardiac metastases among cancer patients diagnosed after 1970, in comparison with the reported incidences in older series before 1970 (7.1% vs 3.8%; Kruskal-Wallis rank test; P = 0.039). Special attention was given to the role of radiotherapy in the management of cardiac metastases.

show abstract

“…3 The incidence of cardiac metastases reported in literature is highly variable, ranging from 2.3% and 18.3% (table 1). [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Although no malignant tumours are known which diffuse preferentially to the heart, some do involve the heart more often than others-for example, melanoma and mediastinal primary tumours. Therefore, as for every other site, the tumour's ability to spread to the heart depends on several factors, not only the characteristics of the primary tumour but also the specific histological and functional characteristics of the heart.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cardiac metastases

et al. 2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tumours metastatic to the heart (cardiac metastases) are among the least known and highly debated issues in oncology, and few systematic studies are devoted to this topic. Although primary cardiac tumours are extremely uncommon (various postmortem studies report rates between 0.001% and 0.28%), secondary tumours are not, and at least in theory, the heart can be metastasised by any malignant neoplasm able to spread to distant sites. In general, cardiac metastases are considered to be rare; however, when sought for, the incidence seems to be not as low as expected, ranging from 2.3% and 18.3%. Although no malignant tumours are known that diffuse preferentially to the heart, some do involve the heart more often than others--for example, melanoma and mediastinal primary tumours. This paper attempts to review the pathophysiology of cardiac metastatic disease, epidemiology and clinical presentation of cardiac metastases, and pathological characterisation of the lesions.

show abstract

Trends in cardiac metastasis

Cited by 38 publications

References 20 publications

Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus

Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus

Cardiac metastases

Cardiac metastases

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About