Primary Cardiac Tumours: A Series of Four Cases

Abstract

Primary cardiac tumours are uncommon, and approximately 90% of them, in both children and adults, are benign. Primary tumours are less prevalent than secondary malignancies that spread to the heart. The subtle and non specific nature of the clinical signs could cause a delay in diagnosis, as well as surgical treatment. Although epidemiology and multimodality imaging approaches are helpful, the definitive diagnosis often necessitates histologic evaluation, and histological characterisation continues to be the gold standard in diagnostics. Herein the authors described four (two males and two females) cases of intriguing primary cardiac tumours. All the cases were diagnosed to have a cardiac mass/clot by Echocardiography (Echo), and the cases underwent tumour excision. Histopathological analysis revealed three benign cases diagnosed as atrial myomas, and one malignant case diagnosed as high-grade spindle cell sarcoma, specifically rhabdomyosarcoma. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was required for the definitive diagnosis of the malignant patient. All the patients were followed-up for a period of one year. All benign cases were symptom- free, while the patient who had rhabdomyosarcoma expired. The aim of the present case series was to highlight the importance of histopathological examination, as well as the prognosis of cardiac tumours.