Cardiac Tumours

Carcinoid heart disease

• Rare cardiac manifestation of advanced neuroendocrine tumours

• Carcinoid syndrome occurs when the tumour metastasizes to liver where it produces excess hormones e.g. 5HIAA, serotonin, histamine etc.

• Carcinoid syndrome produces right sided cardiac valve disease → carcinoid heart disease

Primary cardiac tumours

• Primary tumours in the heart are very rare - cardiac muscle cells are end differentiated

• Atrial myoma is the most common primary tumour of the heart (but still very rare)
• Associated with systemic fever and malaise
• Complications - tumour emboli, endocarditis

Secondary cardiac tumours

• Examples include metastatic malignant melanoma and direct invasion by carcinoma of the lung and oesophagus