Abstract
Primary cardiac tumors are a rare entity compared to tumors that metastasize to the
heart. Patients with such tumors may be asymptomatic. Many cases are found incidentally
during evaluation of an unrelated medical condition. It is important for the clinician
to have a high index of suspicion when evaluating a patient presenting with signs
and systemic symptoms concerning possible malignancy, plus cardiac specific symptoms
or complications. These can include new onset dyspnea, congestive heart failure, arrhythmias
or murmurs varying with body positions. Imaging, particularly the use of echocardiography,
remains the cornerstone of diagnosis, and may be combined with new imaging modalities
of cardiac CT and MRI. The aim of this paper is to describe the epidemiology and pathophysiology
of the various benign and malignant primary cardiac tumors.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 07, 2009
Accepted:
November 15,
2008
Received in revised form:
November 9,
2008
Received:
September 30,
2008
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
