cardiovascular disorders
Cardiac Tumors
Treatment of Cardiac Tumors
Benign primary: Excision Malignant primary: Palliation Metastatic: Depends on tumor origin is surgical excision followed by serial echocardiography over 5 to 6 years to monitor for recurrence. Tumors are excised unless another disorder (eg, dementia) contraindicates surgery. Surgery is usually curative (95% survival at 3 years). Exceptions are rhabdomyomas, most of which regress spontaneously and do not require treatment, and pericardial teratoma, which may require urgent Pericardiocentesis . Patients with fibroelastoma may also require valvular repair or replacement. When rhabdomyomas or fibromas are multifocal, surgical excision is usually ineffective, and prognosis is poor after the first year of life; survival at 5 years may be as low as 15%. Treatment ofmalignant primary tumorsis usually palliative (eg, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, management of complications) because prognosis is poor. Treatment ofmetastatic cardiac tumorsdepends on tumor origin. It may include systemic chemotherapy or palliation. 