Primary Biatrial Cardiac Rhabdomyosarcoma

Multifocal, biatrial, primary cardiac embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma

Malignant primary cardiac tumors are rare, with atrial myxoma and rhabdomyosarcoma the common types in adult and pediatric populations respectively. Rhabdomyosarcomas are rare and are usually located in the atria; they present with symptomatology dependent on their location. A 63-year-old woman presented with the symptomatology of dyspnea, cough, and palpitations and was diagnosed with biatrial primary cardiac rhabdomyosarcoma, which required excision. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged on the 5th postoperative day. Postoperative cardiac functional tests revealed an ejection fraction of 60%, consistent with the preoperative value, and no mitral valve dysfunction. Biatrial rhabdomyosarcomas are extremely rare, with only 3 cases reported, including ours, reported in the literature, to the best of our knowledge. Transthoracic echocardiogram is useful in the diagnosis. They require surgical excision along with chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Their prognosis is poor, with a median survival of almost one year. Primary biatrial rhabdomyosarcoma is an extremely rare diagnosis that can present with symptomatology based on the location, size, and number of masses. There is no consensus on how to manage them due to the scarcity of cases, but they are managed as single rhabdomyosarcomas. The majority require surgical excision, with subsequent chemotherapy or radiotherapy. The prognosis is very poor, with the majority of the patients not surviving longer than one year.

A primary multiple pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma of the heart in an adult dog

BACKGROUND

Heart tumors are rare in dogs. They can be benign or malignant. Clinical signs depend primarily on the location of the tumor and its effect on blood flow.

CASE PRESENTATION

An eleven-year-old crossbreed male dog lethargic and anorectic for previous 3 days was presented to the veterinary clinic. The focused ultrasound assessment with sonograms in trauma (FAST) revealed multiple tumors in the heart which were then confirmed in echocardiographic examination performed by a veterinary cardiologist. Due to the poor general condition and grave prognosis, the dog was humanely euthanized. The autopsy revealed numerous intracardiac tumors in all four heart chambers. No proliferative changes were found in other organs either in thoracic or abdominal cavity. Immunohistochemical examination was performed using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue from heart masses. The antibodies against myoglobin, desmin, smooth muscle actin, vimentin, CD34, S100, and pan-cytokeratin (AE1/AE3) were used. Microscopically, the tumor was composed of fascicles of spindle-shaped cells with pale eosinophilic cytoplasm with round, oval, and focally elongated nuclei and one or two prominent nucleoli. The tumor cells showed strong diffuse cytoplasmic immunopositivity for myoglobin and vimentin and focal staining for desmin. Immunostainings for smooth muscle actin-SMA, CD34, pan-cytokeratin, S-100 protein were negative. The immunohistochemical staining pattern confirmed rhabdomyosarcoma.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first description of the primary multiple heart rhabdomyosarcoma in a dog.

Recurrent cardiac rhabdomyosarcoma with multiple metastases: A case report

Rhabdomyosarcoma, which accounts for 20% of all malignant tumors of the heart, is an aggressive tumor originating in the ventricular wall. These tumors are the second most common malignant primary tumor of the heart after angiosarcoma. Despite treatment options, such as surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, recurrence is common and mortality is high. Among these patients, survival with surgical resection is around six months to one year. In this case report, we discuss a patient who presented with recurrent rhabdomyosarcoma with distant metastasis after surgical intervention. A 56-year-old male patient who underwent left atrial mass excision and mitral valve replacement ten months prior was admitted with recurrent metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma.

Genetic insights into cardiac tumors: a comprehensive review

Cardiac neoplasms are rare, however, also a curable form of the disease once detected early. In recent years the viscus tumors have gained their highlights, due to the advancement in techniques like echocardiography both 2D and 3D, MRI, etc. These cardiac tumors are divided based on their benign and malignant nature and also as well as primary and secondary cardiac tumors. Largely the primary cardiac tumors are often than secondary cardiac tumors. The secondary tumor happens anywhere in the body involving the heart. The most common malignant tumors are sarcoma, some are angiosarcomas, fibromas, rhabdosarcoma, and leiomyosarcoma. The primary sarcoma affects both men and women at an equal rate with non-specific symptoms. These conditions led to high demand in genomic testing that helps in spot the mutation that leads to the particular type of cardiac neoplasm and it additionally helps to screen the mutated sequence and stop it from being inherited. Recent studies on cardiac tumors have revealed many genes that are involved in tumorigenesis and technologies have enabled the right screening of the tumor location within the heart and their histopathological studies were also studied. This review principally focuses on the understanding of the various forms of cardiac tumors, genetic variants involved and their influence, genetic testing, and different diagnostic approaches in cardiac tumors.