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Metastatic and invasive tumours involving the heart in a geriatric population: A necropsy study

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Summary

In a series of 744 necropsied subjects with a diffuse malignant process, 57 cases of cardiac involvement were observed (50 metastatic carcinomas and 7 lymphomas or myeloproliferative disorders). The most frequent site of involvement was the pericardium and epicardium in lung or breast carcinoma, suggesting regional lymphatic invasion. Myocardial involvement was rarer and usually associated with cutaneous melanoma and lymphoma, suggesting haematogenic invasion. Endocardial involvement was exceptional. The multiple causes of heart disturbance in the elderly cloud the clinical diagnosis of such cardiac involvement; however, isolated pericardial and/or epicardial abnormalities should heighten suspicion of a neoplastic process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pathology and University Institutions of Geriatrics, 1 rue Michel-Servet, CH-1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland

    William MacGee

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  1. William MacGee
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MacGee, W. Metastatic and invasive tumours involving the heart in a geriatric population: A necropsy study. Vichows Archiv A Pathol Anat 419, 183–189 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01626346

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01626346

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