Ces radiol. 2019, 73(4):256-262 | DOI: 10.55095/CesRadiol2019/039

Cardiac metastasis in a patient with breast cancerCase report

Eva Janů¹, Jiří Navrátil^2,4, Jiřina Little³, Milan Prášek¹, Věra Feitová⁵, Jan Křístek¹

¹ Oddělení radiologie, Masarykův onkologický ústav, Brno

² Klinika komplexní onkologické péče, Masarykův onkologický ústav, Brno

³ Klinika radiologie a nukleární medicíny FN, Brno-Bohunice

⁴ Lékařská fakulta MU, Brno

⁵ Klinika zobrazovacích metod FN U sv. Anny, Brno

In the Czech Republic, breast cancer is one of the most common oncological diseases in women, mainly metastasizing to bones, lungs, brain and liver. Cardiac metastases are a known, but infrequent, complication of an advanced disease. The spread of a malignant disease to the heart and pericardium usually occurs through the lymphatic system. Breast cancer is among the most common tumors metastasizing to this area. Although heart and pericardial metastases are generally rare, they are much more frequent than primary tumors and are associated with poor prognosis. They are mostly clinically silent and therefore under-diagnosed. The diagnostic method of choice is echocardiography, however, cardiac infiltration can sometimes be suspected from posteroanterior chest x-ray. More detailed evaluation is offered by CT and MRI imaging. We are presenting the case of 69-year-old female with advanced breast cancer and metastatic right atrial infiltration incidentally found during CT scan of chest and abdomen.

Keywords: breast cancer, cardiac metastases, right atrial thrombus

Accepted: November 15, 2019; Published: December 1, 2019  Show citation