title: Carcinoid heart disease: case and literature review.
abstract: We present the case of a 69-year-old woman with a metastatic neuroendocrine tumour of the ileum and severe tricuspid valve regurgitation due to carcinoid valvulopathy. Carcinoid heart disease arises in the context of metastatic serotonin-producing neuroendocrine tumours and typically presents as structural and functional abnormalities of tricuspid (TV) or pulmonary valve (PV). Carcinoid heart disease arises from a low-grade neuroendocrine tumour derived from serotonin-producing enterochromaffin cells that reduces the mobility of the leaflets. Following the development of this type of heart failure, the prognosis is unfavourable and patients usually die as a result of heart failure and not because of the metastatic disease. Our patient was not considered a candidate for valvular surgery because of the progressive nature of the malignancy. However, surgical valve replacement is a therapeutic option that, although it has a significant mortality, needs to be considered in selected patients and leads to improvement in functional capacity and survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Michiel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dumoulein
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Verslype
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van Cutsem
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Meuris
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Herijgers
authors.forename: Willem
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Flameng
authors.forename: Marie-Christine
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Herregods
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002275:Carcinoid Heart Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014261:Tricuspid Valve / Q000473:pathology*; D014262:Tricuspid Valve Insufficiency / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*