title: Cardiac metastasis from colorectal cancer: a case report.
abstract: The heart is an unusual site of metastasis from any malignancy. We report a case of cardiac metastasis from colorectal cancer. A 70-year-old woman was referred with a presumptive diagnosis of sigmoid colon cancer with cardiac myxoma. Two-dimensional echocardiography showed a 4 cm x 4.5 cm mobile mass on the lateral right atrial wall, and computed tomography revealed a low attenuated lobulating mass in the right atrium. The patient underwent anterior resection for sigmoid colon cancer (T4N2). Thereafter, she experienced progressive shortness of breath. Therefore, a cardiac operation was performed 2 wk after the colorectal operation. Histological examination revealed adenocarcinoma, which was identical to the primary lesion. Although two-dimensional echocardiography has become the diagnostic test of choice for detecting cardiac tumors, in patients with colorectal cancer showing a cardiac mass, further diagnostic evaluation such as a magnetic resonance imaging might be necessary.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Inje University College of Medicine, Ilsan Paik Hospital, 2240 Daehwa-dong, Ilsanseo-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, 411-806, Goyang, South Korea. eacechoi@hanmail.net
authors.forename: Pyong Wha
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Chul Nam
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sun Hee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Woo Ik
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Chang Young
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyun Min
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000473:pathology; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000556:secondary*; D006801:Humans; D009232:Myxoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D012811:Sigmoid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*