Key result
Total artificial heart restores cardiac function in RV angiosarcoma despite fatal chemotherapy-induced liver failure.
Why the study?
Primary cardiac sarcomas are rare, aggressive, and lethal tumors requiring thorough surgical resection and adjuvant chemotherapy for optimal outcomes.
Case Report (n=1)
Total artificial heart implantation is technically feasible for severe heart failure secondary to cardiac angiosarcoma, though overall survival may be limited by extracardiac complications such as chemotherapy-induced liver failure.
TAH may be feasible in refractory HF from cardiac angiosarcoma; leaves open whether mitigating chemotherapy toxicities improves survival.
Primary cardiac sarcomas, although rare, are aggressive and lethal, requiring thorough surgical resection and adjuvant chemotherapy for the best possible outcome. We report the case of a 32-year-old woman who underwent total artificial heart implantation for right-sided heart failure caused by right ventricular angiosarcoma. For the first several weeks in intensive care, the patient recovered uneventfully. However, a postoperative liver biopsy indicated hepatocellular injury consistent with preoperative chemotherapy. She developed continuing liver failure, from which she died despite good cardiac function.
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Bruckner et al. (2016) conducted a case report in Right-sided heart failure caused by right ventricular angiosarcoma (n=1). Total artificial heart implantation was evaluated. Total artificial heart implantation in a 32-year-old woman with right ventricular angiosarcoma restored cardiac function, but the patient died from continuing liver failure due to preoperative chemotherapy.
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