Immunohistochemical diagnosis of primary cardiac leiomyosarcoma in a Latin American patient

• Main Authors: Ruben Blachman-Braun, Carlos Manuel Aboitiz-Rivera, Alberto Aranda-Fraustro, Adrián Ransom-Rodríguez, Mario Enrique Baltazares-Lipp, Jorge Manuel Catrip-Torres, Jesús Octavio Martínez-Reding
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2017-03-01
• Series: Rare Tumors
• Subjects: Primary cardiac tumors; leiomyosarcoma; spindle cells; smooth muscle actin; muscle specific actin
• Online Access: http://www.pagepress.org/journals/index.php/rt/article/view/6669
• ISSN: 2036-3605; 2036-3613

Primary cardiac malignancies are rare entities. Although sarcomas enclosed the main group of malignant heart neoplasms, primary cardiac leiomyosarcomas are extremely rare and constitutes less than 8% of cardiac tumors. Leiomyosarcoma usually originates from the pulmonary veins and have a worm-like shaped structure. In this article, we present a case of a 40-year-old Hispanic man diagnosed with a cardiac tumor who underwent surgical resection, during pathological examination the tissue samples were consistent with a malignancy of mesenchymal origin that contained irregular bundles of spindle cells. Subsequent immunohistochemical study categorized the mass as a primary heart leiomyosarcoma with positive smooth muscle actin and muscle specific actin. As usual in this type of malignancy, patient’s clinical status declined overtime, recurrence was diagnosed two months after surgery, and four months after the procedure the patient was discharge for palliative care.