Case report: Surgical resection of a primary cardiac diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and reconstruction of involved right heart structures.

INTRODUCTION AND

IMPORTANCE

Lymphoma can either be Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin (NHL) with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBL) being a type of the latter with an aggressive behavior. Although NHL involvement of the heart in late stages is not uncommon, disease that primarily originates from the heart is rare and therefore poses a diagnostic challenge.

CASE PRESENTATION: Herein, we report the case of a 52-year-old patient who presented to the hospital with non-specific signs and symptoms and was found to have a heterogeneous echogenic irregular mass across the tricuspid valve in the right atrium and right ventricle. The majority of the mass was located in the right atrium, with the tip attached to the right ventricular free wall near the tricuspid annulus. Initially thought to be an atrial myxoma but later confirmed histologically to be diffuse large B cell Lymphoma, and the patient underwent right atrial mass resection, followed by chemotherapy. The patient showed improvement following treatment.

CLINICAL DISCUSSION: Primary cardiac lymphoma (PCL) is a rare form of lymphoma that is confined exclusively to the heart and/or pericardium, without the involvement of other lymph nodes or extra-nodal tissues or organs. Pathological analysis confirms PCL as either non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) or Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). PCL accounts for approximately 1.3 % of primary cardiac tumors and 0.5 % of extra-nodal lymphomas.

CONCLUSION

Our case report provides valuable insights for clinicians to better understand this uncommon disease and reduce the incidence of misdiagnosis.