What is a tumor of the heart

Primary tumors of the heart are rare, about 80% are benign, and mucinous tumors account for more than half of primary tumors of the heart. Mucinous tumors can occur in all atria of the heart, but they are most common in the left atrium (over 93%), followed by the right atrium, and rare in the ventricles. The clinical manifestations of cardiac tumors are complex and can easily lead to misdiagnosis. The clinical manifestations mainly depend on the location, size, growth rate, length of the tumor tip, and whether the tumor is shedding necrotic bleeding. Mucinous tumors mainly present as blood flow obstruction, arterial embolism or systemic reaction. In contrast, malignant tumors with infiltrative growth mostly lead to myocardial and conduction system dysfunction and often present clinically with progressive heart failure and intractable arrhythmias. Dynamic three-dimensional transesophageal ultrasound can dynamically observe the beating heart, more clearly observe the size and attachment point of the tumor, accurately describe the shape and surface of the mass and whether the valves are involved, and provide sufficient information for surgeons to determine the surgical path. CT and MRI can help to characterize the tumor, and in cases where the diagnosis of cardiac ultrasound is unclear, the size of the base of the tumor and the degree of infiltration can be further clarified, which can help to determine the prognosis for surgery. Although cardiac angiography can show the occupying lesion in the heart cavity, it may lead to tumor fragmentation and embolism, so this examination is not recommended for suspected intracardiac tumors. Once a cardiac tumor is diagnosed, it should be operated as soon as possible or in an emergency. About 8% of patients with cardiac mucinous tumors die while waiting for surgery. In particular, mucinous tumors are close to the heart valve opening and are highly mobile, easy to break and fall off, and can move with changes in body position. For patients with simple cardiac mucinous tumor, if there is no systemic reaction, routine elective surgery can be performed, but it should be arranged as the highest priority without delay; while for patients with heavy systemic reaction and fast development of disease, as well as those with recurrent arterial embolism and threat of death, emergency surgery should be arranged; for patients with prolonged fever caused by tumor, surgery should be performed while applying antibiotics; for patients with obvious symptoms of heart failure, heart failure should be actively controlled after other factors are clear, If the symptoms of heart failure are obvious, we should actively control the heart failure after it is clear that there are no other factors. Before blocking the circulation, the operation should be gentle, do not move or squeeze the heart, do not do extra-cardiac or intra-cardiac exploration, and should not insert the left atrial drainage tube. For right atrial tumor, the vena cava drainage tube should be inserted as close as possible to the entrance of the upper and lower vena cava, and the technique should be gentle and slide into the vena cava along the lateral wall, sometimes using right angle or fish-fish-like vein cannulation. If the tumor is huge, it can be directly inserted through the femoral vein. If the tumor is too large, the incision can be enlarged to the left atrium (combined incision of left and right atrium), and the incision should be large enough for complete removal of the tumor and complete removal of the tumor. It is not necessary to remove the whole layer of ventricular wall for ventricular mucinous tumor, but it is usually sufficient to remove the mucinous tumor and the endocardium at its base. If the tumor invades the valve tissue, the tumor and the valve should be removed together to perform valvuloplasty or valve replacement without damaging the conduction bundle of the heart, and the heart cavity should be fully flushed with saline after tumor removal. According to the literature, malignant cardiac tumors are mostly found in the right atrial side of the heart, including rhabdomyosarcoma, angiosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, smooth muscle sarcoma and lymphoma. As these tumors are highly malignant, they can easily invade adjacent tissues and involve both atria or even infiltrate the whole heart, so their prognosis is extremely dangerous. Malignant tumors should be resected as much as possible, and the surgical procedure should be decided according to the intraoperative investigation. If the extent of involvement is too large or if important tissues such as atrioventricular annulus are involved, palliative resection can be performed. If complete resection of the tumor is emphasized and important structures of the heart such as the central fibrous body, conduction bundle, and annulus are destroyed, the risk of surgical death is increased. For malignant cardiac tumors, even if radical resection is not possible, palliative resection can at least relieve the obstruction of cardiac blood flow by the tumor, thus improving the clinical symptoms of these patients. The prognosis for surgical treatment of primary benign cardiac tumors is good, with a recurrence rate of about 5%. Possible reasons for recurrence are: multiple cardiac origin of the tumor, incomplete resection, and tumor residue. Patients with cardiac malignant tumors have a poor prognosis, and some even believe that the purpose of surgery is only to clarify the diagnosis. Postoperative radiotherapy has the potential to prolong survival.