Key result
Oral squamous cell carcinoma leads to a rare, fatal LV apical metastasis.
Case Report (n=1)
Highlights the importance of surveillance imaging and a high index of suspicion for identifying rare myocardial metastases in patients with squamous cell carcinoma.
Raises suspicion for myocardial metastasis in tongue SCC; single case leaves open optimal surveillance strategies.
This is a case of a 43-year-old man who in 2014 was diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma involving the tongue. He underwent extensive surgery that involved right tongue cancer resection and reconstruction with a free flap graft from his right forearm. He then was started on chemotherapy and radiation. Surveillance computed tomography in December 2016 showed a cardiac lesion in the left ventricular apex, which was confirmed by further echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. A biopsy of the mass revealed metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. He was deemed to not be a surgical candidate and continued on palliative chemotherapy. The patient had a very poor prognosis and eventually succumbed to the disease, highlighting the importance of surveillance imaging in such cases. A high index of suspicion on the part of the physician is needed to help in the early identification of these patients.
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Shafiq et al. (2019) conducted a case report in Squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue with myocardial metastasis (n=1). A 43-year-old man with oral squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue developed a rare myocardial metastasis in the left ventricular apex, eventually succumbing to the disease.
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