Abstract
We report the 7th known case in the literature of cardiac angiosarcoma resulting in cardiac rupture. A 34-year-old woman was admitted presenting chest pain and pericardial effusion. After the patient had been treated for 3 months under the diagnosis of pericarditis of unknown etiology, she became hypotensive. Doppler echocardiography showed increased pericardial effusion and a communication between the right atrium and the pericardial cavity. An emergency operation was undertaken to drain the effusion and explore the etiology. We found the ruptured right atrium and the irregularly shaped tumor extending from the pericardium near the inferior caval vein to the right ventricle. There was no apparent tumor on the right atrium, but its wall was extensively thin, which we replaced with autologous pericardium. The patient died on the 44th postoperative day. Clinical diagnosis of cardiac angiosarcoma is usually very difficult. If Doppler echocardiography demonstrates pericardial effusion and find a ruptured right atrium with or without mass formation, we should suspect cardiac angiosarcoma.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Burke A, Virmani R Primary cardiac sarcomas. In: Tumors of the heart and great vessels. Atlas of tumor pathology, third series, fascicle 16, Washington, DC: Armed Forces Institute of Pathology 1996: 127–70.
Ohri SK, Nihoyannopoulos P, Taylor KM, Keogh BE, Angiosarcoma of the heart causing cardiac rupture: a rare cause of hemopericardium. Ann Thorac Surg 1993; 55: 525–8.
Lantz DA, Dougherty TH, Lucca MJ Primary angiosarcoma of the heart causing cardiac rupture. Am Heart J 1989; 118: 186–8.
Lobo AJ, Butland RJ, Stewart S, Shneerson JM Primary cardiac angiosarcoma causing rupture of the heart and spontaneous bilateral pneumothorax. Thorax 1989; 44: 78–9.
Rozegnal W, Borkowski P, Stawarz B A case of primary tumor of the heart (angiosarcoma-Kaposi's sarcoma) with fatal outcome due to spontaneous rupture and cardiac tamponade. Kardiol Pol 1973; 16: 323–6.
Satou Y, Nakagawa Y, Miki H, Suzuki H, Takahashi M. Cardiac angiosarcoma with ruptured right atrium diagnosed by echocardiography. Chest 1991; 100: 274–5.
Bertoli F, Remon Valera JA, Arrocha R Angiosarcoma of the heart and its spontaneous rupture: a rare cause of effusive-constrictive pericarditis: a case report and review of the literature. Rev Med Panama 1995; 20: 84–91.
Crespo MG, Pulpon LA, Pradas G, Serrano S, Segovia J, Vegazo I, et al. Heart transplantation for cardiac angiosarcoma: Should its indication be questioned? J Heart Lung Transplant 1993; 12: 527–30.
Baay P, Karwande SV, Kushner JP, Olsen S, Renlund DG, Successful treatment of a cardiac angiosarcoma with combined modality therapy. J Heart Lung Transplant 1994; 13: 923–5.
Janigan DT, Husain A, Robinson NA Cardiac angiosarcomas: a review and a case report. Cancer 1986; 57: 852–9.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mukohara, N., Tobe, S. & Azami, T. Angiosarcoma causing cardiac rupture. Jpn J Thorac Caridovasc Surg 49, 516–518 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02919548
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02919548