A tumor is any abnormal growth, cancerous (malignant) or noncancerous (benign). Tumors that originate in the heart are called primary tumors and develop in any tissue. Secondary tumors are those originating elsewhere in the body (such as lung, breast, blood or skin) and then spread (metastasize) to the heart, these are always cancerous. Secondary tumors are between 30 and 40 times more common than primary.
Cardiac tumors may not cause symptoms or cause a malfunction of the heart, similar to other diseases caused by it. Examples of malfunction can be a sudden heart failure, the onset of arrhythmias and sudden drop in blood pressure by bleeding in the pericardium (the membrane that surrounds the heart). Cardiac tumors are difficult to diagnose because its symptoms are common and resemble those of many other diseases. To make the diagnosis, it is necessary that the doctor suspected tumor for some reason. For example, if a person has cancer anywhere in the body but have symptoms of malfunction of the heart, the doctor may suspect the existence of a cardiac tumor.
Myxomas
A myxoma is a noncancerous tumor, usually irregularly shaped and gelatinous consistency.
Half of all primary tumors are myxomas. Three fourths of myxomas are located in the left atrium, the chamber of the heart that receives blood with high oxygen content of the lungs.
In general, the left atrial myxomas have a stem (are pedunculated) and can move freely due to blood flow, like a “balloon” attached. When moving, do it to one side in the vicinity of the mitral valve (which is the passage of the left atrium to left ventricle). This movement can block and unblock the valve intermittently, so that the blood stops its step and also continues intermittently. When the patient is standing, it may cause fainting or episodes of pulmonary congestion and dyspnea, as the force of gravity pushes the tumor into the opening of the valve and may even cover it, on the contrary, when lying occurs symptom relief.
The tumor can damage the mitral valve so that blood to escape through it and produce a heart murmur that is heard with a stethoscope. From the sound of the breath, the physician should consider the effect of leakage of blood from injuries caused by a tumor (which is very rare) or is a common cause, such as rheumatic heart disease .
When off Myxoma fragments or blood clots that form on the surface, they can travel to other organs and block blood vessels. Symptoms depend on what the blocked vessel. For example, a blocked artery in the brain can cause a paralytic stroke, whereas if the blockage is in the lung, cause pain and coughing up blood. Other symptoms of myxomas include fever, weight loss, fingers and feet cold and painful when exposed to cold (Raynaud’s phenomenon), anemia, low platelet count (because they are involved in the clotting process) and symptoms that suggest a serious infection.
Other primary tumors
Other less common tumors of the heart, such as fibromas and rhabdomyomas, grow directly from fibrous tissue cells and muscle. Rhabdomyomas, the second type of primary tumor more importantly, develop in childhood and are associated with a rare disease of this age called tuberous sclerosis. Other primary cardiac tumors, such as cancerous primary tumors, are rare and there is no good treatment for them. Life expectancy for children with these disorders is less than a year.
To diagnose cardiac tumors are used by many tests. Sometimes, the echocardiogram (an ultrasound test that allows delineation of structures) can show an image of the contour of the tumors. The technique uses ultrasound can pass through the chest wall or the esophagus from the inside of it (TEE). Another procedure is the introduction by vein to the heart catheter to inject contrast agents that enable you to draw the tumor on radiographs, but is seldom necessary to resort to this procedure. They are also used computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). If a tumor is found, removes a small sample with a special catheter, the sample is used to identify the type of tumor and help select the most appropriate treatment.
Surgical removal of a single primary tumor is not cancerous heart is a curative treatment. When there are multiple primary tumors are treated only those who are so great that can not be extracted. The primary and secondary cancers are incurable, only treat their symptoms.
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