title: Right atrial metastatic melanoma in a patient with transient ischemic attacks.
abstract: A 65-year-old-man was admitted for evaluation of a transient ischemic attack. A 4.5 x 5.3-cm right atrial mass and a patent foramen ovale were identified by echocardiography. A 0.5-cm lesion was identified in the left temporal lobe of the brain by magnetic resonance imaging. Positron emission tomography was used to differentiate a tumor from an infarct in the brain. The cardiac and the brain lesions were successfully resected. Histopathologic study of the atrial and cerebral tissue demonstrated that these were metastases from a previously excised scalp desmoplastic malignant melanoma. The patient remains well at 14 months' follow-up.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown 26506, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Prabhakar
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vasilakis
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Cruzzavala
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Graeber
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Gustafson
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Murray
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D006325:Heart Atria; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D002546:Ischemic Attack, Transient / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D012535:Scalp; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*