Why the study?
Hepatocellular carcinoma is a common aggressive malignancy with vascular invasion, but metastatic disease to the heart is rare.
Hepatocellular carcinoma can rarely extend into the right atrium via the inferior vena cava, presenting as right heart failure, and surgical resection carries high risks.
Consider cardiac extension in dyspneic cirrhotics with HCC; extends rare invasion patterns but leaves management questions open.
Hepatocellular carcinoma is a common malignancy usually associated with cirrhosis. Despite being a highly aggressive tumor with several cases of vascular invasion, metastatic disease to the heart is a rare condition. A 65-year-old male cirrhotic patient was admitted with dyspnea, ascites, and lower extremity edema. A transthoracic echocardiogram showed a large mass in the right atrium. Further imaging studies revealed the presence of hepatocellular carcinoma extending from the liver to the right atrium through the inferior vena cava. The cardiac mass was surgically removed to treat the symptoms of right heart failure, but unfortunately the patient died on the 30th day after surgery due to septic shock.
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Dantas et al. (2020) studied this question.
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