A clinical case of a neoplasm of the heart in a fourteen years old adolescent

Primary cardiac tumors are rare neoplasms affecting the tissues and membranes of the heart. The incidence is 0.002–0.03% in the general population, 0.027–0.08% in children, and 0.02% in adults. Classification of the World Health Organization (2021) distinguish benign and malignant tumors of the heart. In childhood, about 90% of cases are benign cardiac tumors, among them rhabdomyomas are frequent (60–70%). Most malignant neoplasms are represented by sarcomas. In 2% of malignant lesions, an extranodal lesion is diagnosed in non- Hodgkin’s B-cell lymphoma. The clinical picture depends on the size, consistency, localization, nature and growth rate of the tumor, and is represented by symptoms of heart failure, heart defects, rhythm and conduction disorders. There may be manifestations of systemic diseases: fever, weakness, malaise, decreased body weight. Diagnosis of cardiac neoplasms has certain difficulties. As a diagnostic standard, echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging are used. Invasive diagnostic methods such as angiocardiography and endomyocardial biopsy are of great importance. We present a rare clinical case of cardiac neoplasm in a fourteen-year-old adolescent who was admitted to the oncology department of the Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital of Perm with complaints of chest pain. It is necessary to differentiate benign and malignant tumor with a significant degree of certainty and choose the optimal treatment tactics. In this situation, as salvage therapy, antitumor therapy may be attempted to reduce the tumor mass. A radical method of treatment is heart transplantation.

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