Cardiac Metastases of Small-Bowel Carcinoid

Hybrid imaging of neuroendocrine tumors in the heart: Union is strength

Cardiac neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are particularly rare tumors that can lead to a very poor clinical outcome, partly because of metastases but mainly because of manifestations of the hormonal activity they exhibit. Prompt diagnosis is important in order to start the most effective treatment for their removal or management, with the fewest complications. They are often difficult to diagnose, especially in their early stages. One of the reasons for this is that the heart is an organ with a high rate of metabolism and is located in close proximity to other high-metabolism organs. In addition, the anatomic location and their small size render their diagnosis extremely challenging. In recent years, hybrid imaging methods have revolutionized the diagnostic approach to oncology patients and have established a place in the diagnosis of cardiac NETs, because they provide both anatomical and functional information at the same time. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), PET/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) and single-photon emission computed tomography/CT (SPECT/CT) are widely used in clinical practice because of the very important metabolic information, the high sensitivity and specificity. However, prospective studies are needed to confirm the true clinical and prognostic value of various hybrid imaging diagnostic techniques in cardiac NETs.

Rare case of concurrent suprasternal and cardiac metastasis from small bowel neuroendocrine tumour

Neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) are rare tumours derived from the neuroendocrine cell system, arising across a wide range of organs, most commonly the gastrointestinal tract and bronchopulmonary symptoms. Although NETs can metastasis widely throughout the body, cardiac metastasis is rare with an incidence of 2–4% and usually presents in the presence of extensive metastasis elsewhere. Suprasternal metastasis to the neck is exceedingly rare with <20 cases reported in the literature. We report the case of a 71-year-old female with concurrent cardiac and suprasternal metastasis at diagnosis of terminal ileal NET.

Cardiac Metastasis from Medullary Thyroid Cancers with Long-Term Survival under Vandetanib

BACKGROUND

Cardiac metastases from thyroid cancers are uncommon with a poor prognosis. There is a lack of long-term follow-up studies.

CASES

We report 2 cases of cardiac metastasis from medullary thyroid cancer (MTC). Both patients presented limited metastatic disease apart from a cardiac metastasis. The initial diagnosis was challenging and was facilitated by functional imaging with an immuno-PET-CT using an anti-CEA bispecific antibody and a ⁶⁸Ga-labeled peptide. Both patients were treated with the multitarget kinase inhibitor vandetanib with prolonged stability. The first patient was alive at the last follow-up, 14 years after the diagnosis of cardiac metastasis. The second patient required surgical excision of the cardiac mass because of disease progression under vandetanib.

CONCLUSION

These cases illustrate long-term survival and effectiveness of clinical management of 2 patients who developed cardiac metastases from MTC, in the current era of personalized medicine with targeted therapy.

A concealed carcinoid cardiac metastasis uncovered by comprehensive cardiovascular magnetic resonance-based tissue characterization: a case report

Background

Cardiac metastases of carcinoid tumours are extremely rare, and their diagnosis poses a significant challenge. A variety of techniques has been reported in the literature for this purpose, ranging from echocardiogram to the Indium-111 Octreotide, positron emission tomography using specific tracers, and biopsy. Occasionally, the diagnosis is only made post-mortem. Recently, CMR (cardiovascular magnetic resonance) has been added to the diagnostic toolkit. This case report describes the CMR sequences that can be used to characterize cardiac metastases of carcinoid tumours.

Case summary

A 55-year-old woman with an antecedent history of resected carcinoid tumour of the ileocecal junction underwent whole-body In-111 Octreoscan single-photon emission computed tomography in the context of her follow-up. This raised the suspicion of pericardial involvement, which prompted a CMR study. Comprehensive CMR findings were consistent with isolated carcinoid tumour metastasis embedded within the anterior papillary muscle. We describe the CMR sequences that were used to characterize the metastasis.

Discussion

The rarity of cardiac metastasis of carcinoid tumour makes its diagnosis challenging and warrants a high level of clinical suspicion. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging proves to be an indispensable tool in the tissue characterization of such tumours.