Cardiac angiosarcoma Report of a case

ABSTRACT Sarcomas are the most malignant tumors in the myocardium. Most common sarcoma is theangiosarcoma, classically located in the right atrium. Surgical resection is the primary treatmentof choice for these patients. In July 2003, an 18 years old man with chest pain and dyspnea,referred to the Imam Khomeini Hospital. Chest X-ray showed cardiac enlargement andtransthoracic echocardiography demonstrated a large lobulated tumoral mass in right atrium.Cytologic examination of the pericardial effusion reported as no evidence of malignancy andchest CT scan showed cardiac dilatation with blood density and pericardial effusion. The patientunderwent operation and tumor bulk was resected. Based on histological examination andimmunohistochemistry, diagnosis of cardiac angiosarcoma was made and the patient receivedpostoperative radiotherapy through parallel-opposed AP-PA cobalt beam technique. Aftercombined modality treatment with surgery and postoperative radiotherapy, symptoms weredisappeared and after 20 month follow up patient is symptom free. Despite of the ominousoutcome of this malignancy an multimodality approach is worthy of consideration. Radiat. Res., 2005 2 (4): 215-218Iran. J.