Radical resection of cardiac sarcoma

We report on our experience with six patients with malignant sarcoma of the heart and show that long-term survival is possible after radical resection. At presentation, the 6 patients (3 male, 3 female) were 45.8 +/- 20 years old. Three patients are alive without evidence of metastases since 29.6 +/- 36.8 months, three patients died after 38 +/- 50.2 months due to distant metastases. Precise preoperative localization of the tumor by means of imaging techniques is very important. In some cases, radical surgery requires an ex situ procedure (autotransplantation). If necessary, the right heart can be resected almost completely, and reconstructed in the form of a Fontan-type circulation. A heart transplantation, as suggested by others, is not justified from our point of view, since prognosis is not better and donor organs are too rare. The results of radical resection are promising, but new concepts for treatment--in particular chemotherapy concepts--for these mostly middle-aged or young patients are required.

Ex situ resection of primary cardiac tumors

The prognosis of malignant heart tumors is pessimistic; 50% of patients die within 6 months. No optimal therapy has been established, and standardized therapeutic concepts have not been developed due to the low incidence of this disease. In most cases, chemotherapy and radiotherapy have not shown any survival benefit compared to surgical treatment. Obviously, radical resection of the tumor is the most important determinant for long-term survival. Here, we report on two patients in whom radical resection of heart tumors could be accomplished only after explantation of the heart.

[Malignomas following heart transplantation]

Up to 30% of patients with an organ transplantation develop precancerous lesions and malignant tumors, especially of the skin. All 241 patients who underwent heart transplantation from 1990 to 2000 were evaluated with regard to the development of neoplasias. Those alive in September 1999 were referred for a standardized dermatological exam (n=156) which detected malignancy in 28 patients being transplanted for 4.98 years on average. The skin was the organ most frequently involved (64%, n=18). 18% (n=5) of tumors were found in the urinary and genital tract, 7% (n=2) each in the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract, and 4% (n=1 ) in the breasts. The average age of patients who developed tumors was significantly higher as compared to the overall mean age (59.5+/-5 vs 49.8+/-14.7 years, p=0.00027). There was no correlation between development of malignancy and HLA matching, immunosuppressive drugs used, dosage and serum levels of immunosuppressive medication, and episodes of transplant rejection. Our study shows that the risk to develop tumors is at least doubled after heart transplantation. Due to the high incidence of skin tumors, transplant patients should undergo dermatological examinations on a regular basis.

[Primary Burkitt lymphoma of the heart--diagnosis and therapy]

An 85-year-old patient suffered from progressive deterioration (NYHA III) for several months. Cardiac disease was suspected. Echocardiography as well as a CT scan of the heart revealed a heart tumor to be the cause. Tumor staging was negative. After transvenous biopsy, the diagnosis of a Burkitt lymphoma could be established. Due to the advanced age of the patient, the intended surgical therapy was turned down and the patient was treated with 6 courses of a potentially therapeutic chemotherapy (CHOP scheme), which was well tolerated by the patient. The following CT scan showed a complete remission of the tumor. Six months after chemotherapy the patient is in NYHA stage I.

Coexistence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and non-small cell lung carcinoma: diagnosis and treatment

Abstract. In this communication, we will present a very rare case of the coexistence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL; low malignant lymphocytic lymphoma of the B-cell type) and a non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). A patient with a 15-year history of NHL developed a generalized relapse of the lymphoma with an additional tumor mass in the left lower lobe of the lung. Bronchoscopy showed the evidence of the NHL. Due to non-responding chemotherapy on the lung tumor, the coexistence of a second malignancy was histologically proved in a second bronchoscopy. Resection of the lung tumor with complex lobectomy and lymphadenectomy was performed. After that, chemotherapy with four cycles of carboplatin supplemented with taxol was induced. The patient was discharged from the hospital with a stable remission of both tumor diseases. Restaging after six months showed no evidence of a tumor relapse. This is a very rare case of the coexistence of NHL and NSCLC; we will discuss the difficulty of diagnostic and treatment of both tumor diseases.

Leiomyosarcoma of the pulmonary artery--a diagnostic chameleon

A 60-year-old woman suffered from right-sided pain in the back and dyspnea suspicious for chronic pulmonary thromboembolism. Since computed tomography demonstrated a progressive filling defect within the left pulmonary artery, a transvenous biopsy was taken, which demonstrated malignant sarcoma. The patient underwent left-sided pneumonectomy with the aid of cardiopulmonary bypass. In case of a suspected 'chronic' pulmonary embolism with occlusion of a main pulmonary artery, as may be seen with imaging techniques, a sarcomatous disease should be ruled out, especially if there are no coagulation disorders, and the tumor obliterations progress in serial CT scans despite effective anticoagulation.

Primary pigmented malignant schwannoma in the posterior mediastinum

This paper describes a rare case of primary pigmented malignant schwannoma arising from the sympathetic trunk in the posterior mediastinum. A 30-year-old woman underwent a thoracoscopic tumor extirpation. A primary pigmented malignant schwannoma was diagnosed histologically. The tumor presented fascicles and whorls of pigmented plump spindle cells and positive immunoreactivity to S-100 protein, vimentin, and HMB-45. Postoperative radiotherapy of the mediastinum was performed. Our case demonstrates the successful thoracoscopic resection and postoperative radiation treatment of a malignant schwannoma.

Postoperative death should be followed by autopsy - an analysis of the autopsy findings of the years 1990 and 1991 in a heart surgery center

BACKGROUND

In this retrospective analysis of all autopsies performed in 1990 and 1991 on cardiac surgery patients who died before discharge from our university hospital, we intended to test the use of postmortem examination among cardiac surgery patients.

METHODS

Perioperative data of all patients who underwent autopsy because of postoperative death during this time period were collected using a retrospective analysis of hospital and autopsy records.

RESULTS

In 1990 and 1991 a total of 2407 patients underwent cardiac surgery with extracorporeal circulation at our institution. The in-hospital mortality was 2.9% (n=36) in 1990 and 3.3% (n=40) in 1991. For most of all patients who died during the postoperative course, we found a highly symptomatic cardiac disease and significant co-morbid conditions. The autopsy rate was 46.1% (35/76 patients). Cardiac failure with shock symptoms was the leading course of death (68.6%). In 22.9% of these patients (n=8) the autopsy provided information which had not been clinically recognized (e.g. myocardial infarction, thrombosis of bypass grafts, pneumonia) but might have altered the postoperative therapy if it had been.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the well-known trend of decreasing autopsy rates in the western world we believe that the postmortem examination is a most valuable diagnostic tool in the setting of a university cardiac surgery unit. Our results confirm the importance of autopsies for all patients who die after the operation, because a significant part of autopsies reveals major discrepancies between clinical and postmortem diagnoses. In an effort to maintain a high quality of treatment and education the autopsy rate of a hospital is of utmost interest.

Multiple cardiac procedures after heart transplantation: a case report

We report on a 56-year-old patient who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting, tricuspid valve replacement, and pacemaker implantation within 49 months after heart transplantation. This case readily demonstrates that multiple cardiac procedures can be safely performed after heart transplantation and may thus serve as an alternative to retransplantation.

[Allograft vasculopathy in the early phase of orthotopic heart transplantation: angiography, intravascular ultrasound and functional in vivo findings]

Accelerated graft coronary atherosclerosis disease is the main reason for long-term mortality and morbidity of heart transplant recipients. The aim of this in vivo study was to evaluate coronary atherosclerotic vessel abnormalities and endothelial function using angiography, intravascular ultrasound, and intracoronary acetylcholine infusion. Fourteen patients (11 male, 3 female; mean age 49.3 years) were examined early after heart transplantation (mean interval after transplantation: 11 weeks) because of coronary artery disease (n = 8), idiopathic dilatative cardiomyopathy (n = 7), mitral valve replacement (n: 1) or left atrial filiae of a leiomyosarcoma (n = 1). Mean age of the donor hearts (female n = 8) was 29 years; 3 patients received double- and 14 patients triple-immunosuppression. All patients underwent biplane ventriculography and coronary angiography; a total of 120 coronary segments (main stem 21, left anterior descending artery 85, circumflex artery 14) was examined by intravascular ultrasound (20 MHz, 3.5 F catheters). In 13 patients, acetylcholine was infused into the proximal left anterior descending artery (0.15 microgram/min to 150.0 micrograms/min) to evaluate vasomotion within this segment. Ventriculography demonstrated regional wall abnormalities in 2 patients, angiography revealed 9 noncritical stenotic segments in 5 patients. Intravascular ultrasound detected 52 cross-sectional areas with a three-layer appearance indicating intimal thickening. Mean circumferential expansion of intimal proliferation was 192 degrees and mean intimal thickness was 0.35 mm. Only 5 segments of the sonographically pathological cross-sectional areas showed angiographic evidence of atherosclerotic lesions. After intracoronary infusion at a lower dose (0.15 and 1.5 micrograms/min) of acetylcholine, vasoconstriction was observed in 2 patients, at a dose of 15.0 and 150.0 micrograms/min in 10 patients. This response to acetylcholine did not depend on the intravascular or angiographical extent of atherosclerotic vessel abnormalities. In heart transplant recipients, coronary artery abnormalities can already be depicted at an early stage using intravascular ultrasound. The majority of patients show coronary vasoconstriction following infusion of acetylcholine at a higher dose. Further investigation is necessary to clarify whether the depicted vessel wall abnormalities can already be interpreted as newly developed graft atherosclerosis and whether abnormal vasomotion after acetylcholine is indicative of endothelial dysfunction.