title: Primary left heart malignant fibrous histiocytoma.
abstract: We present the case of a 53 years-old woman presenting with congestive heart failure and pleural and pericardial effusions, in whom transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography revealed multilocular cardiac tumor involving the left atrium wall, extending into the pericardium. Tumor was excised surgically and proved to be a malignant fibrous histiocytoma, primarily confined to the heart. Despite surgery followed by chemotherapy, the patient died a few months later. This is the 47th case of primary cardiac fibrous malignant histiocytoma reported in the literature. The pericardial involvement has been only rarely reported. Echocardiography was the method of diagnosis before rapid referral to surgery.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Department, Emergency Hospital of Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dorobantu
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fruntelata
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Constantinescu
authors.forename: Ileana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Racoveanu
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ardeleanu
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tatu-Chitoiu
authors.forename: Ileana Cristina
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Lazar
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D018219:Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged