The authors report a rare case of a malignant hemangioendothelioma (MH) originating in the pericardium. In this case, a metastatic skin lesion was found first, and subsequently the existence of a primary cardiac lesion was confirmed. Generally, primary cardiac tumors grow slowly, and the prognosis of MH is relatively good. In this case, however, the patient died suddenly during the creation of a pericardial window for drainage. An autopsy showed that the MH originated from a pericardial lesion in the right atrium.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Mark RJ, Poen JC, Luu MT, et al: Angiosarcoma: A report of 67 patients and a review of the literature . Cancer77:2400-2406, 1996 .
2.
Maddox JC, Evans HL: Angiosarcoma of skin and soft tissue: A study of 44 cases. Cancer48:1907-1921, 1981.
3.
Janigan DT, Husain A., Robinson NA: Cardiac angiosarcomas : A review and a case report. Cancer57:852-859, 1986.
4.
Cina SJ, Smialek JE, Burke AP, et al: Primary cardiac tumors causing sudden death. A review of the literature. Am J Forensic Med Pathol17:271-281, 1996.
5.
Kanda T., Umeyama S., Sasaki A., et al: Interleukin-6 and cardiac myxoma. Am J Cardiol74:965-967, 1994.
6.
Alles Juwe, Bosslet K.: Immunocytochemistry of angiosarcomas ; a study of 19 cases with special emphasis on the applicability of endothelial cell-specific markers to routinely prepared tissues. Am J Clin Pathol89:463-471, 1988.
7.
Nappi O., Wick MR, Pettinato G., et al: Pseudovascular adenoid squamous cell carcinoma of the skin; a neoplasm that may be mistaken for angiosarcoma. Am J Surg Pathol16:429-438, 1992.