Malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the heart. A case report and review of the literature.

A case report of a 28-year-old woman with malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) of the left atrium is presented, and the six previous reports of this rare cardiac tumor are reviewed. A tendency for malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the heart to occur in the left atrium of young women is suggested; this sarcoma's usual location is in the soft tissue of elderly men. The apparent predilection for the left atrium is unique among cardiac malignancies. Careful pathologic study is necessary to differentiate the uniformly fatal MFH of the heart from the more common benign atrial myxoma.