Malignant pericardial effusion in endometrial adenocarcinoma.

A case of endometrial adenocarcinoma in a 62-year-old woman with malignant pericardial effusion is presented. The patient underwent a total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, pelvic node dissection, and paraaortic node biopsy. Postoperatively, she was placed on a combination chemotherapy regimen of cisplatin, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide. The patient developed cardiac tamponade during the course of chemotherapy. Although we first suspected cardiotoxic effect of doxorubicin, cytologic examination revealed adenocarcinoma cells in the pericardial fluid. A review of the literature revealed no other cases of cardiac metastasis from endometrial carcinoma diagnosed during life.