Cardiac angiosarcoma: an unusual presentation simulating mitral stenosis and constrictive-effusive pericarditis

Mediastinal angiosarcoma mimicking constrictive pericarditis and aortic dissection: a case report

BACKGROUND

Angiosarcomas are soft-tissue sarcomas of endothelial cells that can arise from any site in the body. Primary mediastinal angiosarcoma is rare, with an extremely poor prognosis and currently no established treatment. Mediastinal angiosarcoma is often detected as a tumor mass in the heart, lung, aorta, or pulmonary artery. However, in cases where no tumor mass is found, a definitive diagnosis is difficult without tissue biopsy, as the condition shows various, non-specific clinical findings.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 49-year-old man had an episode of syncope while walking. Cardiac catheterization and computed tomography suggested constrictive pericarditis, aortic dissection, and coronary artery disease. Scheduled total arch replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting could not be completed because intraoperative findings indicated the presence of a malignant tumor. Only pericardiectomy was performed. Hyaluronic acid concentration in the pleural fluid was high. The diagnosis of mediastinal angiosarcoma was confirmed postoperatively.

CONCLUSIONS

Mediastinal angiosarcoma might mimic multiple diseases within a single case. Hyaluronic acid concentration in the pleural fluid may be a useful indicator for mediastinal angiosarcoma diagnosis.

Multimodality treatment of primary cardiac angiosarcoma: A systematic literature review

BACKGROUND

Primary cardiac angiosarcoma (PCA) is the most prevalent histological type of cardiac sarcoma but its rarity poses a challenge for standardizing treatment protocols. Moreover, published studies are limited by small patient numbers and lack of randomization, making it challenging to establish evidence-based treatment strategies. This systematic review aims to consolidate the heterogeneous published data and identify factors related to the treatment outcome of PCA patients.

METHODS

The PubMed and Scopus bibliographic databases were systematically searched for original articles reporting clinical, treatment and outcome data for PCA patients. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to calculate the time to progression and survival. The Log-Rank test was used to compare progression-free and overall survival data. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used for univariate and multivariate analysis of survival data.

RESULTS

A total of 127 studies containing data for 162 patients were analyzed. The median age of the patient cohort was 45 years, with males being 1.5 times more frequently affected than females. Tumors were primarily located on the right side of the heart, with a median size of 6 cm. Median progression-free and overall survival of 5 months and 12 months, respectively, were calculated. Age, sex, and resection margins did not have a significant impact on PCA survival, as determined by both univariate and multivariate analyses. The presence of metastases at diagnosis was associated with lower overall survival in univariate analysis, although this effect was not significant in multivariate analysis. Multimodality treatment that incorporated surgery and adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy was associated with a statistically significant survival benefit. Median overall survival increased from 6 months with surgery alone to 13 months and 27 months with adjuvant chemotherapy and chemo-radiotherapy, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Multimodality treatment including surgery and chemo-radiotherapy was found to offer the greatest survival benefit for PCA patients.

Effusive-Constrictive Pericarditis

Effusive-constrictive pericarditis (ECP) corresponds to the coexistence of a hemodynamically significant pericardial effusion and decreased pericardial compliance. The hallmark of ECP is the persistence of elevated right atrial pressure postpericardiocentesis. The prevalence of ECP seems higher in tuberculous pericarditis and lower in idiopathic cases. The diagnosis of ECP is traditionally based on invasive hemodynamics but the presence of echocardiographic features of constrictive pericarditis post-pericardiocentesisis can also identify ECP. Data on the prognosis and optimal treatment of ECP are still limited. Anti-inflammatory agents should be the first line of treatment. Pericardiectomy should be reserved for refractory cases.

Sarcomas of the heart as a difficult interdisciplinary problem

Cardiac tumors are assumed to be a rare entity. Metastases to the heart are more frequent than primary lesions. Sarcomas make up the majority of cardiac malignant neoplasms. Among them angiosarcoma is the most common and associated with the worst prognosis. Malignant fibrous histiocytoma comprises the minority of cardiac sarcomas and has uncertain etiology as well as pathogenesis. Transthoracic echocardiography remains the widely available screening examination for the initial diagnosis of a cardiac tumor. The clinical presentation is non-specific and the diagnosis is established usually at an advanced stage of the disease. Sarcomas spread preferentially through blood due to their immature vessels without endothelial lining. Surgery remains the method of choice for treatment. Radicalness of the excision is still the most valuable prognostic factor. Adjuvant therapy is unlikely to be effective. The management of cardiac sarcomas must be individualized due to their rarity and significant differences in the course of disease.

Effusive-constrictive pericarditis

Effusive-constrictive pericarditis (ECP) is an increasingly recognized clinical syndrome. It has been best characterized in patients with tamponade who continue to have elevated intracardiac pressure after the removal of pericardial fluid. The disorder is due to pericardial inflammation causing constriction in conjunction with the presence of pericardial fluid under pressure. The etiology is diverse with similar causes to constrictive pericarditis and the condition is more prevalent with certain etiologies such as tuberculous pericarditis. The diagnosis is most accurately made using simultaneous intrapericardial and right atrial pressure measurements with pericardiocentesis, although non-invasive Doppler hemodynamic assessment can assess residual hemodynamic findings of constriction following pericardiocentesis. The clinical presentation has considerable overlap with other pericardial syndromes and as yet there are no biomarkers or non-invasive findings that can accurately predict the condition. Identifying patients with ECP therefore requires a certain index of clinical suspicion at the outset, and in practice, a proportion of patients may be identified once there is objective evidence for persistent atrial pressure elevation after pericardiocentesis. Although a significant number of patients will require pericardiectomy, a proportion of patients have a predominantly inflammatory and reversible pericardial reaction and may improve with the treatment of the underlying cause and the use of anti-inflammatory medications. Patients should therefore be observed for the improvement on these treatments for a period, whenever possible, before advocating pericardiectomy. Imaging modalities identifying ongoing pericardial inflammation such as contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging or nuclear imaging may identify those subsets more likely to respond to medical therapies. Pericardiectomy, if necessary, requires removal of the visceral pericardium.

Unusual cause of heart failure: Mitral stenosis and pulmonary venous obstructions caused by the direct invasion of primary cardiac sarcoma

Cardiac tumor can produce a variety of symptoms and clinical findings depending on the location, size, and histologic type. It may cause heart failure usually by interfering with intracardiac blood flows associated with the mass effects. Here, we report an extremely rare case of heart failure caused by primary cardiac sarcoma with a review of the literature. The cause of heart failure was moderate to severe mitral steno-insufficiency due to the direct tumoral invasion of mitral valve apparatus combined with obstruction of the pulmonary veins.

The Echocardiographic Evaluation of Intracardiac Masses: A Review

Echocardiography is an invaluable procedure for the evaluation of intracardiac masses, and can reliably identify mass location, attachment, shape, size, and mobility, while defining the presence and extent of any consequent hemodynamic derangement. With careful attention to mass location and morphology, and appropriate application of clinical information, echocardiography can usually distinguish between the 3 principal intracardiac masses: tumor, thrombus, and vegetation. Transesophageal imaging frequently adds additional important information to the assessment of mass lesions and should always be considered when image quality is inadequate or pertinent clinical questions remain unanswered with surface imaging. This review will focus on primary and metastatic tumors of the heart.