Cardiac Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor: A “Benign” Neoplasm That May Result in Syncope, Myocardial Infarction, and Sudden Death

Abstract

Cardiac tumors other than myxomas are rare. We report a series of 10 intracavitary polypoid myofibroblastic proliferations in children and young adults emphasizing gross, histologic, and clinical features. There were 6 females and 4 males, with a mean age of 10 years (range 5 wk to 21 y). All lesions were endocardial-based, located in the right atrium (1), right ventricular inflow/tricuspid valve (1), right ventricular outflow (3), mitral valve (3), aortic valve/left coronary sinus (1), and left ventricular free wall (1). Symptoms included shortness of breath or dyspnea (3), syncope (2), chest pain (1), transient ischemic attacks (1), and fever with myalgias (1). All tumors were surgical resections, except 1 tumor that resulted in sudden coronary death and that was diagnosed at autopsy, and 1 tumor that embolized into the coronary artery and was treated by cardiac transplant. Two tumors, present in the aortic and mitral valves, respectively, caused cardiac ischemia. The tumors were polypoid or filiform and histologically resembled inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors of extracardiac sites, with loose spindle cell growth with sparse inflammation. Although there were frequent collagen bundles interspersed among the tumor cells, there were no large areas of dense fibrosis. Surface fibrin was present on the polypoid projections in 7 cases. Symptoms resulted from prolapse into coronary ostia or embolization, but no patient developed metastasis. Long-term follow-up in 2 patients demonstrated no evidence of disease or recurrence. Although metastatic potential was not identified, these tumors may result in serious symptoms, including myocardial infarct, syncope, and sudden death. These cardiac myofibroblastic tumors are readily distinguished from other endocardial-based cardiac tumors, including papillary fibroelastoma and myxoma, which may present clinically in the same manner.