Abstract
Background: Primary cardiac neoplasms are rare and occur less commonly
than metastatic disease of the heart which sarcomas are the largest
group of them and have a mesenchymal origin. metastases to or direct
invasion of the heart are far more common, and many tumor types are
reported in the literature such as breast cancer, lung cancer, melanoma
and various sarcomas. The prognosis after surgery is usually excellent
in the case of benign tumors, but the prognosis of malignant tumors
remains dismal. Patients and methods: We are about to report through 5
cases of malignant cardiac tumors hospitalized in our department and
treated later with cardiac surgery, the subtypes of cardiac masses and
their diagnosis and prognosis (follow-up) features with literature
review. Results: Five cases of cardiac neoplasms had been reported in
this work; that can be classified in one case of primary cardiac origin
and 4 cases as secondary to metastases (breast cancer, lung cancer,
osteosarcoma and mediastinal thymoma). Echocardiogram was the main
exploration technique to be performed and thoracic CT was performed in
all cases. Cardiac surgery was the main treatment in only one case, but
the others palliative treatment was the case. Conclusion: Malignant
cardiac masses are infrequent and often asymptomatic, most of the time
they are secondary to extra cardiac tumor. Early diagnosis of cardiac
tumors necessitates a high level of suspicion. Therefore, surgery
remains the cornerstone in the therapy of cardiac sarcomas and it should
be attempted once it is technically feasible.