title: Malignant schwannoma of the heart.
abstract: Primary cardiac tumor is an extremely rare disease entity. Only three cases of primary malignant cardiac schwannoma, the subject of this report, have been recorded in Japan. Recently, we encountered a case of malignant schwannoma in which retention of pericardial effusion was the first clinical finding. This case was a 30-year-old female, who had dyspnea at work, general fatigue, and fever. Striking cardiac expansion was seen, with a cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) of 69% on chest x-ray. Two-dimensional echocardiograms showed a large volume of pericardial effusion between the side wall of the left ventricle and the epicardium, and the presence of a parenchymatous tumor. An increase in tumor size was detected on chest computer tomography (CT) scan. Using a pump oxygenator, median sternotomy was performed to reach the epicardium. A pale yellow, soft tumor was seen in the left atrium near the left ventricle. Histologically, the patient was diagnosed as having a malignant schwannoma. We have reported a case of primary malignant schwannoma which was surmised to have arisen from the boundary between the atrium and the ventricle.
authors.affiliation: 1st Department of Internal Medicine, Toho University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morishita
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohsawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uchi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okuzumi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wakakura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Koyama
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D005260:Female; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000473:pathology*; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000473:pathology