The usefulness of chemotherapy for control of ventricular arrhythmias secondary to cardiac metastasis of germ cell tumor.

A 14-year-old boy was referred to our hospital because of treatment of germ cell tumor in the anterior mediastinum. Computerized tomographic (CT) scan of the chest and abdomen revealed a large tumor in the anterior mediastinum and multiple metastatic tumors in the lung, liver, kidney, pancreas, and heart. There was a mass in the interventricular septum. A 24-h Holter monitor showed sinus rhythm with 358 premature ventricular complexes (VPC) and 30 ventricular runs including 9 non-sustained ventricular tachycardias per day. The patient was treated with 4 cycles of chemotherapy with good response. Approximately 12 weeks after the start of the chemotherapy, serial CT scan showed regression of the tumors in the anterior mediastinum, lung, and kidney, and disappearance of the tumors in the liver, pancreas, and heart. Repeat Holter monitor showed that VPC and ventricular runs disappeared completely. The chemotherapy for the germ cell tumor was very useful for ventricular arrhythmias secondary to cardiac metastasis of the tumor.