Treatment of cardiac synovial sarcoma: experience of two cases

J Cardiothorac Surg. 2018 Jul 3;13(1):84. doi: 10.1186/s13019-018-0771-0.

Abstract

Background: Primary heart sarcomas are exceedingly rare tumors. Among primary cardiac sarcomas, synovial sarcoma is one of the rarest, involving cardiac cavities or pericardium.

Case presentation: Two cases of synovial sarcoma are presented with the clinical course and therapy. Both cases were treated with surgery and chemo/radiotherapy. Interestingly, one of the patient, a 52-year-old male with an intracardiac synovial sarcoma, undergone a SynCardia total artificial heart implantation, but died for multiple pulmonary metastases waiting for transplantation.

Conclusion: Complete surgical resection of cardiac synovial sarcoma is the gold standard of therapy, though rarely possible. Although guidelines for the treatment are not well established, due to limited number of cases reported, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are frequently administered and seem to prolong mean patient's survival. Cardiac transplantation could be considered in selected cases.

Keywords: Cardiac tumors; Synovial sarcoma; Therapy; Total artificial heart implantation.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Biopsy
  • Cardiac Surgical Procedures / methods*
  • Chemoradiotherapy / methods
  • Echocardiography, Doppler, Color
  • Fatal Outcome
  • Heart Atria
  • Heart Neoplasms / pathology
  • Heart Neoplasms / therapy*
  • Heart Septum
  • Heart Ventricles
  • Heart, Artificial*
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Lung Neoplasms / secondary
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Sarcoma, Synovial / diagnosis
  • Sarcoma, Synovial / secondary
  • Sarcoma, Synovial / therapy*