Asymptomatic intracardiac metastasis from a low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma with successful surgical resection.
BACKGROUND
The endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS) is a rare neoplasm of the uterine origin. Intracardiac metastasis from the low-grade ESS is an extremely rare event. A case of a patient who successfully underwent surgical extraction of metastatic tumors of the low-grade ESS in the right ventricle is described in the present report.


METHODS
A 48-year-old woman was considered recurrence of the low-grade ESS 4 years after the initial operation for this disease. The CT scanning and magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated solid masses in the pelvis, the lungs, the inferior vena cava, and the right ventricle. The chemotherapy was effective against the recurrent tumors except for intracardiac site. Although she had no symptoms of right-sided heart failure, surgical resection of the intracardiac masses was successfully performed. Pathological examination confirmed intracardiac recurrent low-grade ESS.


CONCLUSIONS
Surgical approach to intracardiac metastasis of the low-grade ESS is considered viable because of an excellent long-term prognosis in this disease and the likelihood of fatal heart failure or sudden death in untreated cases.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hirosaki University School of Medicine, 5-Zaifu-cho, Hirosaki 036-8562, Japan. yokoyama@cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp
Yoshihito
Y
Yokoyama
Yuichi
Y
Ono
Tomomi
T
Sakamoto
Ikuo
I
Fukuda
Hideki
H
Mizunuma
D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D018203:Sarcoma, Endometrial Stromal / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*