Thymic carcinoma with extrinsic occlusion of the left anterior descending artery: a distinctive case of myocardial infarction in a young woman

Background Thymic epithelial tumour (TET) is the most common tumour affecting the anterior mediastinum in adults. The cardiac extension is often limited to the pericardium, and intracardiac extension is rare. We present a unique case of encasement and displacement of the left anterior descending coronary artery by the large mediastinal tumour leading to myocardial ischemia. Case presentation Our patient is a 28-year-old lady with stage 4 TET. She presented with acute chest pain associated with 12-lead ECG changes and a significant rise in serial troponin I. Multimodality cardiac imaging revealed encasement and displacement of the left anterior descending coronary artery by the large mediastinal tumour. CT-FFR demonstrates evidence of ischemia which would account for her acute presentation. Following detailed MDT discussions between cardiologists, oncologists and cardiothoracic surgeons, the decision was made to treat this lady with palliative chemotherapy. Given the extent of the tumour invasion and failure of the initial therapy, her prognosis and the outcome were poor. Conclusions TET could cause atrial compression, myocardial infiltration, and invasion of the pulmonary and caval veins; however, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first case reported of coronary artery displacement and encasement by TET.

Intravenous Leiomyoma with Intracardiac Extension: A Rare Late Presentation After Hysterectomy

Intravenous leiomyoma is a rare, benign smooth muscle tumor arising from intrauterine venules or the myometrium. It can rarely present as intracardiac mass long after hysterectomy. In this case report we describe a 40-year-old female with previous history of hysterectomy, presenting with an intracardiac mass which was successfully managed with single stage tumor resection under cardiopulmonary bypass. Subsequent histopathology showed features of leiomyoma. The diagnosis of intravenous leiomyoma with cardiac extension should be kept in a female patient presenting with intracardiac mass with previous history of myomectomy or hysterectomy.

Clinically Silent Intracardiac Metastasis with Extremely Poor Prognosis in a Patient with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Intracavitary cardiac extension remains an unusual site of extrahepatic metastasis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. While patients can present with signs and symptoms suggestive of right-sided heart failure, it may be totally asymptomatic, which is very rare with only a few cases reported so far. Also, cardiac metastasis is of great prognostic importance as patients with intracardiac metastasis can have an extremely poor prognosis. Here, we present the case of a 52-year-old male patient with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, with an incidentally found tumor thrombus extending from the inferior vena cava to the right atrium, protruding through the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle, on routine echocardiography. The patient did not have any signs or symptoms of heart involvement and unfortunately died on the 18th day of the hospital stay.