title: Sarcoma metastatic to the right ventricle: surgical intervention followed by prolonged survival.
abstract: Malignant tumors that metastasize to the heart pose a formidable therapeutic challenge. Recent advances in surgical treatment have improved the management and prognosis of patients with cardiac metastases. We report the case of a 45-year-old man who had a high-grade pleomorphic sarcoma of the right ventricle. We completely resected the neoplasm, reconstructed the right ventricle, and replaced the mitral valve. Upon late follow-up, 67 months (5.6 years) later, the patient was alive and well. This case shows that aggressive surgical management of malignant disease metastatic to the heart can enable prolonged survival.
authors.affiliation: The Department of Cardiopulmonary Transplantation, Texas Heart Institute, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Harting
authors.forename: Gregory N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Messner
authors.forename: Igor D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Gregoric
authors.forename: O H
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Frazier
mesh_terms: D001365:Axilla / Q000473:pathology; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000473:pathology*