Primary cardiac synovial sarcoma mimicking SARS-CoV-2 associated pericarditis.

Primary cardiac synovial sarcoma is an extremely rare tumor with a higher incidence in young men. The mean age of occurrence is 32 years. Synovial sarcomas are tumors with high aggressiveness, proliferate rapidly and metastasize to regional and distant lymph nodes or surrounding organs. The typical location of synovial sarcoma of the heart is the atrial and ventricular septum. Its size, the degree of infiltration of the surrounding tissues and the presence of metastases influence clinical symptoms, which are very non-specific. The low specificity of the symptoms complicates the clinical diagnosis and in most cases the tumor is detected during its progression or incidentally. The final diagnosis is based on histological examination. The primary and only method of treatment is a surgical solution with an effort to completely resect the tumor, followed by aggressive palliative chemotherapy. In the following paper, we present a case report of a 32-year-old man who was diagnosed with synovial cardiac sarcoma only on the basis of exacerbation of non-specific subjective complaints due to the complication in the form of of aneurysmal bleeding of the tumor mass.

Distribution, infrastructure, and expertise of heart failure and cardio-oncology clinics in a developing network: temporal evolution and challenges during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

The Hellenic Heart Failure Association has undertaken the initiative to develop a national network of heart failure clinics (HFCs) and cardio-oncology clinics (COCs). We conducted two questionnaire surveys among these clinics within 17 months and another during the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak to assess adjustments of the developing network to the pandemic. Out of 68 HFCs comprising the network, 52 participated in the first survey and 55 in the second survey. The median number of patients assessed per week is 10. Changes in engaged personnel were encountered between the two surveys, along with increasing use of advanced echocardiographic techniques (23.1% in 2018 vs. 34.5% in 2020). Drawbacks were encountered, concerning magnetic resonance imaging and ergospirometry use (being available in 14.6% and 29% of HFCs, respectively), exercise rehabilitation programmes (applied only in 5.5%), and telemedicine applications (used in 16.4%). There are 13 COCs in the country with nine of them in the capital region; the median number of patients being assessed per week is 10. Platforms for virtual consultations and video calls are used in 38.5%. Coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak affected provision of HFC services dramatically as only 18.5% continued to function regularly, imposing hurdles that need to be addressed, at least temporarily, possibly by alternative methods of follow-up such as remote consultation. The function of COCs, in contrast, seemed to be much less affected during the pandemic (77% of them continued to follow up their patients). This staged, survey-based procedure may serve as a blueprint to help building national HFC/COC networks and provides the means to address changes during healthcare crises.