Primary Cardiac Tumor as a Finding in an Autopsy Study

Abstract

Introduction: Primary cardiac tumors are rare. Benign ones are more common than malignant ones and myxoma is the most common histological subtype in adults. Before 1970, necropsy was the fundamental diagnostic method for these injuries. Today, although the rate of performance has significantly decreased, it constitutes a valuable weapon to correlate clinical and pathological events.

Objective: To describe a case of primary cardiac tumor as a finding in an autopsy study.

Case report: The case of a 68-year-old female patient was reported. She presented with general malaise, asthenia and dyspnea on light exertion that progressed to orthopnea, with rapid hemodynamic worsening, poor ventilatory mechanics, so artificial ventilation was required; the evolution was torpid and she died. In the autopsy study, an intracardiac mass was diagnosed related to a primary myxoma-type tumor in the left atrium.

Conclusions: To achieve an early diagnosis of cardiac tumors, it is first necessary to keep it in mind within the differential diagnoses and rely on the clinical method and imaging studies, mainly echocardiography, which turns out to be of great diagnostic value. Myxomas are the most common cardiac tumors in adults and although their behavior is benign, they can be high lethal depending on their location, size and morphology.