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Case Reports
. 2014 Apr-Jun;10(2):124-8.
doi: 10.14797/mdcj-10-2-124.

Case report: cardiac tamponade resembling an acute myocardial infarction as the initial manifestation of metastatic pericardial adenocarcinoma

Scott A Scheinin  1 , Jose Sosa-Herrera  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Case report: cardiac tamponade resembling an acute myocardial infarction as the initial manifestation of metastatic pericardial adenocarcinoma

Scott A Scheinin et al. Methodist Debakey Cardiovasc J. 2014 Apr-Jun.

Abstract

Pericardial malignancies are uncommon, usually metastatic, linked to terminal oncology patients, and rarely diagnosed premortem. A very small number of patients will develop signs and symptoms of malignant pericardial effusion as initial clinical manifestation of neoplastic disease. Among these patients, a minority will progress to a life-threatening cardiac tamponade. It is exceedingly rare for a cardiac tamponade to be the unveiling clinical manifestation of an unknown malignancy, either primary or metastatic to pericardium. We present the case of a 50-year-old male who was admitted to the emergency department with an acute myocardial infarction diagnosis that turned out to be a cardiac tamponade of unknown etiology. Further studies revealed a metastatic pericardial adenocarcinoma with secondary cardiac tamponade. We encourage considering malignancies metastatic to pericardium as probable etiology for large pericardial effusions and cardiac tamponade of unknown etiology.

Keywords: acute myocardial infarction; adenocarcinoma of pericardium; cardiac tamponade; malignant pericardial effusion; pericardium.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosure: The authors have completed and submitted the Methodist DeBakey Cardiovascular Journal Conflict of Interest Statement and none were reported.

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