A peculiar presentation of tamponade: pericardial mesothelioma

Pericardial mesothelioma (PM) is rare with only 200 cases recorded, and a post-mortem prevalence of <0.0022%. It is the third most common cardiac/pericardial tumour, behind angiosarcoma and rhabdomyosarcoma. PM incidence increases with age, typically incidentally diagnosed between 50 and 70 years...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of surgical case reports Vol. 2024; no. 5; p. rjae279
Main Authors Syed Ahmad, Syed Danial, Kirk, Frazer, Wijesinghe, Wisalya, He, Cheng, Stroebel, Andrie
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Oxford University Press 02.05.2024
Subjects
Case Report
pericardial tamponade
surgical dilemma
rare cardiac case
mesothelioma
pericardial disease
pericardial mesothelioma
rare cardiac disease
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Summary:Pericardial mesothelioma (PM) is rare with only 200 cases recorded, and a post-mortem prevalence of <0.0022%. It is the third most common cardiac/pericardial tumour, behind angiosarcoma and rhabdomyosarcoma. PM incidence increases with age, typically incidentally diagnosed between 50 and 70 years, with a 3:1 male predominance. Occasional PM can cause chest pain, dyspnoea, cough and even dysphagia. PMs are often misdiagnosed with only 25% of cases being antemortem diagnoses. Unlike pleural mesothelioma, the link between asbestos exposure and malignancy is less convincing, with only 20% of cases having known exposure. 6 There are three histological types: epithelioid, fibrous (spindle cell), and biphasic (mixed). The average life-expectancy post diagnosis is 3-10 months. Due to the heterogeneity of the presentation and rarity there is no standardized management algorithm, and the diagnostic imaging or laboratory investigations are scarcely described. We are presenting one of the cases diagnosed in our unit here in the Gold Coast.
ISSN:2042-8812
2042-8812
DOI:10.1093/jscr/rjae279