A cardiac myxoma with interleukin-6 production and cerebral metastasis.
The occurrence of cerebral metastasis from cardiac myxoma is extremely rare. We present a 70-year-old man who had atrial myxoma with two metastatic myxomas in his brain. Histopathologic examination revealed a benign myxoma. An elevated interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentration in the serum, and immunohistochemical staining of the primary myxoma by an anti-IL-6 monoclonal antibody confirmed interleukin production by the myxoma. The IL-6-positive myxoma cells were closely attached to the cerebral endothelial cells. This suggests that IL-6 production by the atrial myxoma may have been an important factor for intravascular metastasis or embolization.
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
T
T
Kanda
T
T
Sakamaki
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K
Murata
D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000473:pathology; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009232:Myxoma / Q000473:pathology*
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015850:Interleukin-6