Reversible Tricuspid Valve Stenosis Due to a Metastatic Dissemination of a Noncardiac Sarcoma

• Published in: The Annals of thoracic surgery Vol. 80; no. 1; pp. e1 - e2
• Main Authors: Uribe-Etxebarria, Naia, Voces, Roberto, Rodriguez, Miguel Angel, Llorente, Alberto, Perez, Pedro, Aramendi, Jose I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Inc 01.07.2005
• Subjects: Heart Neoplasms - complications; Heart Neoplasms - secondary; Heart Neoplasms - surgery; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Muscle Neoplasms - pathology; Pericardial Effusion - etiology; Pericardial Effusion - surgery; Pericardial Window Techniques; Pericardium - pathology; Sarcoma - complications; Sarcoma - secondary; Sarcoma - surgery; Tricuspid Valve Stenosis - etiology; Tricuspid Valve Stenosis - surgery; 18
• ISSN: 0003-4975; 1552-6259
• DOI: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2005.03.044

Malignant disease is present in the pericardium of 1.5% to 20.6% of patients dying of malignant diseases as was examined postmortem. We present a case of a 57-year-old man with a history of Hodgkin’s disease and a sarcoma of gluteus who presented with tachypnea, generalized weakness, and anasarca for 7 days. The echocardiogram revealed the presence of a significant pericardial thickening and localized pericardial effusion resulting from a tricuspid stenosis. A right anterior thoracotomy was performed, and a pericardiectomy (4 × 4 cm) was done. The histologic examination of the pericardium revealed the presence of a metastatic dissemination from a sarcoma. The cause for the clinical presentation and the treatment of malignant pericardial disease are discussed.