Clinical case of angiosarcoma of pericardium and pleura

Abstract

Primary heart tumors are an extremely rare pathology, previously detected only by autopsy data and detected in 0.001%-0.03% of cases. Primary angiosarcomas of the pericardium are even more rare and are presented in the literature with isolated descriptions. The article describes a clinical case of epithelioid angiosarcoma of the pericardium and pleura of high malignancy in a 57-year-old man. The diagnosis was confirmed by immunohistochemical examination and positron emission tomography. For today, chemotherapeutic treatment of angiosarcomas localized in the chest cavity is a palliative treatment method. In this patient, the most effective scheme was the one containing anthracyclines (doxorubicin). Despite the ongoing therapy, the patient died 15 months after the diagnosis was made, with increasing signs of respiratory and heart failure. Thus, when patients, especially young and middle-aged men, show signs of hydropericardium without established etiological prerequisites, it is necessary to remember about the possibility of developing a primary malignant tumor of the heart and / or pericardium as the cause of this condition and include it in the standard diagnostic search.