Neoplastic heart disease -- the Muenster experience with 108 patients.
BACKGROUND
Tumours of the heart are rare. Different histological subtypes are known. The most common tumour entity is benign cardiac myxoma. Malignant heart tumours are less common. Tumours originating in other organs such as the kidney may also affect the heart by tumour progression via the inferior caval vein. A large experience with surgical treatment of different types of heart tumours is presented.


METHODS
Between January 1989 and April 2004, 108 patients with a heart tumour were included in a database. All patients underwent radical surgical resection, except for 2 patients who had malignant lymphoma of the heart.


RESULTS
Histological findings included 78 myxomas (72.2 %), and 6 other benign cardiac tumours in 5.6 % of the patients. Primary malignant heart tumours were seen in 10 (9.2 %) and renal cell carcinoma with cardiac involvement in 6 (5.6 %) patients. Eight patients presented with tumour metastases inside the heart (7.4 %). Mean overall survival was 12.7 years for myxoma patients and 5.6 years for patients with other benign heart tumours. Patients with primary malignant heart tumours survived 5.5 years on average.


CONCLUSIONS
Heart tumours are rare, but usually life-threatening. Radical surgical resection is the therapy of choice and may offer excellent long-term survival, even in cases with malignant heart tumours.
Hoffmeier
A
A
Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital Münster, Westfälische Wilhelms-University Münster, Münster, Germany. andreas.hoffmeier@ukmuenster.de
Schmid
C
C
Deiters
S
S
Drees
G
G
Rothenburger
M
M
Tjan
T D T
TD
Schmidt
C
C
Löher
A
A
Maintz
D
D
Spieker
T
T
Mesters
R M
RM
Scheld
H H
HH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009232:Myxoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014682:Vena Cava, Inferior / Q000473:pathology