Metastatic Tumor of the Heart

New growths in the heart, either primary or secondary, are relatively rare. In the statistics compiled by Mead,¹primary neoplasm of the heart occurred in 0.03 per cent and secondary in 0.5 per cent of all autopsies. The infrequency of metastatic neoplasm of the heart has been attributed to the rapid cardiac vascular flow and to the nature of cardiac muscle, a medium unsuited to tumor growth.²The literature on the subject to 1930 has been thoroughly reviewed by Yater³and since then by Mead¹and by Gilchrist and Millar.⁴ The diagnosis of either primary or metastatic tumor of the heart has seldom been made before death. Primary tumor of the heart has been recognized during life three times⁵and metastatic tumor five times.⁶The antemortem diagnosis of pericardial metastasis has been made twice.⁷ The symptoms of cardiac tumor have been classified