[Metastatic tumor of the heart from gall bladder cancer detected by echocardiography: a case report].

Cardiac metastases have been reported increasingly partly because of the longevity of cancer patients, but its antemortem diagnosis is frequently missed. This is due to the nonspecific clinical manifestations or relative lack of characteristic signs which are masked by the underlying disease. This is a report of a 42-year-old man diagnosed as having a metastatic cardiac tumor by echocardiography, six months after operation for squamous cell carcinoma of the gall bladder. Echocardiography revealed abnormal structures in the regions of the posterior and lateral walls of the left ventricle and interventricular septum, suggesting metastatic tumors. The cytological findings of a fine-needle aspiration biopsy specimen were squamous cell carcinoma. The patient died of cardiac failure eight months after the echocardiographic diagnosis. At autopsy, the abnormal structures in the heart were identified as cardiac metastatic tumors from gall bladder cancer. Reports of cardiac metastasis of gall bladder cancer is very rare (0-3%). The myocardial metastasis may have a more serious prognostic importance than the primary neoplasm itself; thus, its definite diagnosis is mandatory.