title: Heart failure caused by cardiac rhabdomyosarcoma.
abstract: Rhabdomyosarcoma accounts for 20% of primary malignant cardiac tumours. We describe a woman with cardiac rhabdomyosarcoma. She had loss of appetite, loss of weight, and symptoms of heart failure. A mobile tumour in the left atrium, entering the left ventricle during diastole, was detected by transthoracic echocardiography. The tumour was removed surgically in total; histological diagnosis was rhabdomyosarcoma; however, the patient died after 6 months. In conclusion, primary malignant cardiac tumours can simulate heart failure or systemic disorders. Cardiac rhabdomyosarcomas have a poor prognosis with average survival of 6 months after diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Center of Nis, Bulevar Nemanjica 72a/25, 18000 Nis, Serbia and Montenegro. miodrag@ptt.yu
authors.forename: Miodrag
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Damjanovic
authors.forename: Danijela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Djordjevic-Radojkovic
authors.forename: Zoran
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Perisic
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Apostolovic
authors.forename: Goran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Koracevic
authors.forename: Miloje
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomasevic
authors.forename: Milan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pavlovic
authors.forename: Ruzica
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jankovic
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000209:etiology*; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D012208:Rhabdomyosarcoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology