Leiomyosarcoma First Signaled by Chest Pain: Beyond Angina.

BACKGROUND

Primary malignant cardiac tumors are extremely rare (<0.03% prevalence). Cardiac leiomyosarcoma is especially uncommon and rarely presents with functional severe mitral stenosis.

CASE SUMMARY: A 49-year-old man presented with worsening exertional chest pain and dyspnea. Imaging was discrepant between a malignant or benign mass. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) favored a benign mass, whereas echocardiography favored malignancy. Final pathology was consistent with high-grade left atrial leiomyosarcoma with myxoid features.

DISCUSSION: Leiomyosarcomas are very rare primary malignancy cardiac tumors, and current literature consists mostly of case reports. Despite cardiac MRI being the gold standard for imaging cardiac masses, information gathered from echocardiography is crucial for both diagnosis and surgical planning.

TAKE-HOME MESSAGES: General patterns of leiomyosarcoma include a large sessile left atrial mass, mixed hyperintense T1 and T2 signaling on MRI, and occurrence from the fourth to sixth decades of life. Careful consideration of all imaging findings is important, especially in instances where 1 modality suggests a benign mass and another suggests malignancy.