[Malignant primary cardiac tumors in childhood and adolescence]

Arch Pediatr. 2010 May;17(5):495-501. doi: 10.1016/j.arcped.2010.02.009. Epub 2010 Mar 24.
[Article in French]

Abstract

Primary heart tumors are uncommon in children. The majority of them are benign, with only 10% malignant. Among malignant cardiac tumors, sarcoma (rhabdomyosarcoma, angiosarcoma, synovial sarcoma) and lymphoma (Burkitt's lymphoma, large B-cell lymphoma, lymphoblastic lymphoma) predominate. There are few published pediatric series on malignant primary cardiac tumors. We report here 3 observations of primary malignant cardiac tumors, 2 cases of sarcoma (angiosarcoma and synovial sarcoma) and 1 case of Burkitt's lymphoma. A precise pathological diagnosis is necessary for the proper management of these patients. For sarcoma, treatment associates surgery and chemotherapy. Surgery should be as complete as possible because of the lack of chemotherapy sensitivity of some sarcomas, mainly angiosarcoma and synovial sarcoma. Therefore, the prognosis of cardiac sarcoma remains poor. For primary cardiac lymphoma, management should not be different from lymphoma in other locations. Chemotherapy is the main treatment, and surgery has to be used only when complications occur. Prognosis depends on histology and not lymphoma location, and so is better than the prognosis for sarcoma.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • English Abstract

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use
  • Burkitt Lymphoma / diagnosis*
  • Burkitt Lymphoma / drug therapy
  • Burkitt Lymphoma / pathology
  • Burkitt Lymphoma / surgery
  • Chemotherapy, Adjuvant
  • Combined Modality Therapy
  • Cough / etiology
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Dyspnea / etiology
  • Echocardiography
  • Fatal Outcome
  • Female
  • Heart Atria / pathology
  • Heart Atria / surgery
  • Heart Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Heart Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Heart Neoplasms / pathology
  • Heart Neoplasms / surgery
  • Hemangiosarcoma / diagnosis*
  • Hemangiosarcoma / drug therapy
  • Hemangiosarcoma / pathology
  • Hemangiosarcoma / surgery
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / diagnosis
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / pathology
  • Neoplasm, Residual / diagnosis
  • Neoplasm, Residual / pathology
  • Pulmonary Heart Disease / diagnosis
  • Pulmonary Heart Disease / etiology
  • Sarcoma, Synovial / diagnosis*
  • Sarcoma, Synovial / drug therapy
  • Sarcoma, Synovial / pathology
  • Sarcoma, Synovial / surgery
  • Superior Vena Cava Syndrome / diagnosis
  • Superior Vena Cava Syndrome / etiology
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed