Right ventricular metastatic tumor from a primary carcinoma of uterine cervix: A cause of pulmonary embolism

ABSTRACT

The presence of intracavitary cardiac metastasis from squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix is extremely rare. The diagnosis is made almost exclusively postmortem. Apart from causing intracardiac obstruction, it can present as pulmonary emboli and the prognosis is extremely poor. It is important to suspect this diagnosis in patient with recurrent pulmonary emboli. Due to the rarity of this condition it is very difficult to standardize care for these patients. However, it is possible that aggressive therapy may lengthen patients' survival and quality of life. We present a case of isolated intracavitary cardiac metastasis arising from a squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix, 44-year-old woman, diagnosed as stage complaint of fatigue and dyspnea on mild exertion. The echocardiogram showed a mass in the right ventricle and suspicious pulmonary embolism. We took an aggressive therapeutic approach. The pathological examination of the resected tissue revealed metastatic squamous cell carcinoma.