Letter to the Editor

Cardiac Angiosarcoma and Recurrent Pericardial Effusion

Authors: Manu Kaushik, MD, Venkata M. Alla, MD, Suman Pasupuleti, MD, Claire Hunter, MD, Lamis Shatat, MBBS, William J. Hunter, MD

Abstract

To the Editor:


Malignant pericardial effusions are not uncommon and are usually secondary to metastatic pericardial disease. There is, however, a relative lack of emphasis on primary cardiac malignancies as a cause of pericardial effusion due to extreme rarity of these tumors. These malignancies need to be considered in the differential diagnosis of recurrent pericardial effusions. Primary cardiac malignancies have extremely poor prognosis and early diagnosis is important to prolong survival. Diagnosing primary cardiac malignancies in the absence of other clinical or laboratory clues may be difficult as the following case illustrates.

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