Zhang Qin, Luo Shuying, Ye Hua, Yang Tao, Zhang Tijiang, Li Bangguo, Yu Hong
Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Medical Imaging Center of Guizhou Province, Zunyi 563003, China.
Department of Pathology, Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi 563003, China.
Curr Med Imaging. 2025 Mar 17. doi: 10.2174/0115734056352556250226080204.
Primary cardiac tumors are rare. Most primary cardiac tumors are benign, with approximately 10.83% being malignant. We present a rare case of Primary Cardiac Angiosarcoma (PCA) with multiple metastases diagnosed using multimodality imaging, to enhance the understanding of PCA among clinicians and radiologists.
A 29-year-old woman presented to our hospital with a 2-day history of chest tightness, chest pain, palpitations, and dyspnea after physical activity. Ultrasonography and Computed Tomography (CT) of the heart revealed a mass in the right atrium. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging suggested either a large cardiac lymphoma or angiosarcoma. The histopathological diagnosis confirmed a cardiac angiosarcoma. Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography (PET/CT) revealed intense 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) uptake in the right side of the heart, with a maximum standardized uptake value of 10.9. Three months later, the patient was re-examined using abdominal CT, echocardiography, and PET/CT. PET/CT revealed increased 18F-FDG uptake which had become more extensive, with multifocal metastatic nodules in both the lungs and mediastinum. The patient was lost to follow-up after being discharged on May 1, 2022.
The combined evaluation using multimodality imaging plays a vital role in determining the precise size and localization of the PCA, detecting distant metastases, and assessing patient prognosis.