Primary cardiac sarcomas

Metastases to the heart occur 20-40 times more frequently than primary neoplasms. Among primary tumours, about 25% are malignant, the majority of these being sarcomas.

 

 

vimentin

S-100

CD68

sarcomeric actin alpha-sr-1

CD31

CD34

Factor VIII RA

SMA

EMA

Desmin or HHF35

EMA

cytokeratin

angiosarcoma

6/6

0/6

0/6

0/6

6/6

6/6

6/6

3/6

 

 

1/6

 

leiomyosarcoma

6/6

0/6

0/6

0/6

 

 

 

6/6

 

5/6

5/6

5/6

malignant fibrous histiocytoma

2/2

0/2

only osteoclast like giant cells positive

0/2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

some positivity

synovial sarcoma

1/1

0/1

0/1

0/1

 

 

 

 

1/1

 

 

 

undifferentiated sarcoma

9/9

0/9

0/9

0/9

 

 

 

2/9

 

 

2/9

4/9

Angiosarcomas preferentially involve the right atrium while the other tumour types are more common in the left atrium. Cardiac leiomyosarcomas show a characteristic fibrous / hyaline stroma not seen in this tumour at other sites. Only seven cases of cardiac synovial sarcoma have been published.

References

Donsbeck, A. V., Ranchere, D., Coindre, J. M., Le Gall, F., Cordier, J. F., Loire, R. Primary cardiac sarcomas: an immunohistochemical and grading study with long-term follow-up of 24 cases. Histopathology 1999;34:295-304.