Primary neoplasms of the heart. Clinical and histological presentation of 50 cases.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze clinical and histologic findings of 50 patients with primary neoplasms of the heart in a tertiary referral center.


METHODS
From 1980 to 1998, we retrospectively analyzed 50 patients, 32 of whom were females, whose ages ranged from 9 to 73 years (mean age = 44.16+/-18 years).


RESULTS
Most tumors were located in the left side of the heart (72%), myxoma being the most common (84%) histologic type. The other histologic types found were as follows: fibroma (4%), lipoma (2%), rhabdomyosarcoma (2%), hemangioma (2%), sarcoma (2%), angiosarcoma (2%), and lymphoma (2%). Diagnosis was established by echocardiography in 94% of the cases. Clinical findings were as follows: dyspnea (36%), weight loss (20%), palpitations (18%), chest pain (16%), fever (8%), and arthralgia (6%). All patients with thromboembolic phenomena (10%) had left atrial myxoma. Approximately 20% of the patients were asymptomatic at the initial clinical assessment.


CONCLUSIONS
Primary cardiac tumors are a rare entity with diverse clinical and histologic findings, requiring, therefore, a high level of clinical suspicion.
Fernandes
F
F
Instituto do Coração, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo. car_fabio@incor.usp.br
Soufen
H N
HN
Ianni
B M
BM
Arteaga
E
E
Ramires
F J
FJ
Mady
C
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009232:Myxoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies