title: Tamponade as the clinical onset of a cardiac angiosarcoma.
abstract: Primary tumors of the heart are usually benign, with the malignant forms being rare. In this article we report the case of an angiosarcoma with the only manifestation being a cardiac tamponade. When the patient being admitted to the hospital, an important differential diagnosis was pulmonary tumor. A mass in the right atrium was later detected in the echocardiogram. Further image studies, such as MRI, showed spectacular images of this mass suggestive of neoplasm. An intra-operatory biopsy diagnosed the mass as an angiosarcoma. Since there was no evidence of primary neoplasm in other studies carried out, the neoformation was diagnosed as a primary angiosarcoma. Surgery was carried out with a survival of only 13 months after the procedure. We also use this case to make a brief review of the primary tumors of the heart, especially angiosarcomas.
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine Dpt., Juan Ramón Jiménez Hospital, Huelva, Spain.
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Vera
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sobrino-Márquez
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: García Moreno
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Colchero Fernández
mesh_terms: D002305:Cardiac Tamponade / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D006394:Hemangiosarcoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014463:Ultrasonography