Primary Right Atrial Sarcoma Presenting with Cardiac Tamponade and Massive Pleural Effusion

Hosein Ahmadi, Seied; Momtahen, Shahram; Ensani, Fereshteh; Alikhasi, Afsaneh; Sadighi, Sanambar; Samiee, Farhad; Sedighi, Zahra; Mohagheghi, Mohammad Ali

Primary Right Atrial Sarcoma Presenting with Cardiac Tamponade and Massive Pleural Effusion

Document Type : Case Report(s)

Authors

Seied Hosein Ahmadi ¹

Shahram Momtahen ¹

Fereshteh Ensani ²

Afsaneh Alikhasi ³

Sanambar Sadighi ⁴

Farhad Samiee ⁵

Zahra Sedighi ⁶

Mohammad Ali Mohagheghi ⁴

¹ Department of Cardiac Surgery, Tehran Heart Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences TUMS, Tehran, I. R. of Iran

² Department of Pathology, Cancer Institute, Imam Khomeini Hospital Center, TUMS, Tehran, I. R. of Iran

³ Department of Radiology, Cancer Institute, Imam Khomeini Hospital Center, TUMS, Tehran, I. R. of Iran

⁴ Department of Hematology Oncology, Cancer Institute, Imam Khomeini Hospital Center, TUMS, Tehran, I. R. of Iran

⁵ Department of Radiotherapy, Cancer Institute, Imam Khomeini Hospital Center, TUMS, Tehran, I. R. of Iran

⁶ Cancer Research Center, Cancer Institute, Imam Khomeini Hospital Center, TUMS, Tehran, I. R. of Iran

Abstract

Primary cardiac sarcomas are very rare and there is no consensus on management. Clinical presentation is usually late. Despite newer diagnostic technology, prognosis remains dismal. We report a case of right atrial sarcoma in a 28-year-old man who presented with acute cardiac tamponade. Emergency subxiphoid pericardial drainage stabilized the patient's critical condition. The lesion was advanced. Therefore, we only performed a suboptimal surgical resection. Despite planning for radiation, the patient's status deteriorated. Only palliative measures continued during the next four months before his death due to disseminated metastasis and progressive cardiopulmonary failure.