Intracardiac metastases from neuroendocrine tumours.
Drake WM, Jenkins PJ, Phillips RR, Lowe DG, Grossman AB, Besser GM, Wass JA.
Department of Endocrinology, St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, UK.
We report three cases of intra-cardiac metastases from neuroendocrine tumours of the carcinoid type. One presented in a manner identical to a left atrial myxoma; in one patient a left atrial mass was noted during investigations for weight loss and a lung mass; and in the third, two right ventricular deposits were detected on echocardiography when a patient with a disseminated GHRH-secreting tumour was investigated for dyspnoea. Although to our knowledge this is only the third report of these lesions, we believe that this represents a form of carcinoid heart disease that is distinct from the valvular abnormalities seen in some patients with carcinoid syndrome. Neuroendocrine metastases should be considered in the differential diagnosis of intra-cardiac tumours.
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PMID: 9196617 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]