IMR Press / RCM / Volume 9 / Issue 4 / pii/1560999988362-147801688

Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine (RCM) is published by IMR Press from Volume 19 Issue 1 (2018). Previous articles were published by another publisher in Open Access under a CC-BY (or CC-BY-NC-ND) licence, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with MedReviews, LLC.

Open Access Case Review
Symptomatic Metastatic Right Atrial Lymphoma in a Patient With AIDS Presenting With Pulmonary Embolization
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1 Department of Medicine, Columbia University, Harlem Hospital Center, New York, NY
2020 Division of Cardiology, Columbia University, Harlem Hospital Center, New York, NY
Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2008, 9(4), 275–279;
Published: 30 December 2008
Abstract
Tumors involving the heart are rare, and the majority of them are benign. Secondary lymphoma with localization to the heart is the third most common malignant heart tumor and is more common, by far, than primary cardiac lymphomas. In patients with human immunodeficiency virus, the risk of development of systemic lymphoma is 60 to 200 times higher than in the general population. Symptoms usually consist of chest pain and dyspnea. Patients can also present with obstructive symptoms, based on the location and size of the tumor, and signs such as elevated jugular venous pressure, peripheral edema, ascites, and hepatomegaly. Transthoracic echocardiography is the initial modality of choice for diagnosis of cardiac lymphomas because it is readily available and helps localize the tumor, but transesophageal echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging remain the best tests for evaluation. Treatment consists primarily of chemotherapy, and anticoagulation can be used in certain cases where embolization of the tumor is likely. This case review describes a 37-year-old man with past medical history significant for herpes zoster and stage 1 syphilis who presented with complaints of weight loss, intermittent fevers, and vague chest pains of 1-month duration.
Keywords
Right atrial mass
B-cell lymphoma
AIDS
Pulmonary embolism
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