Primary Cardiac Angiosarcoma with Superior Vena Cava Syndrome

• Published in: Kyobu geka. The Japanese journal of thoracic surgery Vol. 69; no. 5; p. 370
• Main Authors: Shimada, Naohiro, Shiomi, Daisuke, Kaki, Nobuaki, Kiyama, Hiroshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japan 01.05.2016
• Subjects: Adult; Antibiotics, Antineoplastic - administration & dosage; Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating - administration & dosage; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Doxorubicin - administration & dosage; Female; Heart Neoplasms - drug therapy; Heart Neoplasms - surgery; Hemangiosarcoma - drug therapy; Hemangiosarcoma - surgery; Humans; Ifosfamide - administration & dosage; Superior Vena Cava Syndrome - complications
• ISSN: 0021-5252

Primary cardiac angiosarcoma is rare and its prognosis very poor. A 34-year-old woman complained of facial edema and dyspnea. Echocardiography, chest computed tomography scan and chest magnetic resonance imaging showed a huge tumor arising in the right atrium. Surgical excision of the tumor was performed for the purpose of relieving superior vena cava syndrome and making diagnosis of the tumor. The right atrial wall, including the tumor, was resected and reconstructed with Gore Tex patch under cardiopulmonary bypass. The tumor was diagnosed as angiosarcoma. Doxorubicin hydrochloride/ifosfamide were used to treat postoperative cardiac recurrence and lung metastasis. These drugs were effective to a certain degree, but she died of brain metastasis of the tumor in the 14th postoperative month.