Cardiac Tumors – What is it, Symptoms and Treatments!

Cardiac Tumors – What is it, Symptoms and Treatments  that many are unaware of. Also, Cardiac Tumors can develop from any part of the heart . Benign myxomas are the most common tumor that originates in the heart . Even though their cellularity is benign, they can still be lethal, as described below.

In adults, the most common malignant heart cancers are angiosarcomas, which tend to develop in the upper right chamber of the heart (atrium). Angiosarcomas originate from cells that form the lining of blood vessels. When these cells become cancerous, they multiply and create irregular masses of blood vessels that can enter the atrium and spread to adjacent structures.

What Causes Cardiac Tumors: A small percentage of patients with Cardiac Tumors have a family history of the disease. Sometimes Tumors can be part of another health condition, such as NAME Syndrome, LAMB Syndrome, or Carney Syndrome. Most of the time, the tumor develops without any of these conditions or a family history. They are the result of overgrowth of cells that starts in the heart or moves to the heart .

What are Cardiac Tumors: Cardiac Tumors are abnormal growths on the heart or heart valves. There are many types of Heart Tumors . But, Cardiac Tumors , in general, are rare. Tumors can be cancerous (malignant) or non-cancerous (benign).

Tumors that start to grow in the heart and remain are called primary tumors. Tumors that start elsewhere in the body and travel to the heart (metastasis) are called secondary tumors.

Most heart tumors are benign. But even benign tumors can cause problems because of their size and location. Sometimes small pieces of tumor fall into the bloodstream and are transported to distant blood vessels and get in the way of blood flow to vital organs (embolism).

What are the Types of Cardiac Tumors:  See now the 2 Types of Cardiac Tumors .

Primary Tumors : Primary Tumors affect only 1 in 1,000 to 100,000 people. The most common type of primary cardiac tumor is myxoma. Most of these are benign. Patients of any age can develop a myxoma. They are more common in women than in men.

Most often, the tumor grows in the upper left chamber of the heart (left atrium) in the atrial septum, which divides the two upper chambers of the heart . Myxomas can grow in other areas of the heart or on the heart valves, but this growth is rare. About 10 percent of myxomas are hereditary or develop as a result of other conditions (see above).

Other types of benign primary tumors are papillary fibroelastomas, fibromas, rhabdomyomas, hemangiomas, teratomas, lipomas, paragangliomas and pericardial cysts. Primary malignant tumors include pericardial mesothelioma, primary lymphoma, and sarcoma.

Secondary Tumors : Secondary Cardiac Tumors are much more common thanprimary Tumors . They don’t start in the heart . Instead, they move to the heart after developing in another area of ​​the body. Most of the time, these tumors  start in the lungs, breasts, stomach, kidneys, liver, or colon. They can also be tumors related to lymphoma, leukemia, or melanoma.

What are the Symptoms of Heart Tumors: Often, patients are unaware that they have a heart tumor. They are often found when the patient has an echocardiogram for another reason. If the tumor has become hardened by calcium deposits (calcified), it can be seen on a chest X-ray.

Most primary cardiac tumors are discovered when patients are in their 50s and 60s. However, they can also be found in younger patients.

Patients with cardiac myxoma in the left atrium may develop symptoms. This is due to blocked blood flow through the mitral valve. Blood flow can be blocked at all times, or only when the patient is in a certain physical position (ie, lying down).

Although many patients have no symptoms, if blood flow is blocked and pressure in the left atrium increases, it can cause shortness of breath, dizziness, or coughing. Inflammation can cause fever and the patient may have joint pain or not feel well.

How Heart Tumors Treat: Because heart tumors can lead to problems with blood flow, surgery to remove the tumor is usually the treatment of choice. But whether surgery is necessary depends on the size of the tumor, whether it causes symptoms, and the patient’s overall health.

Removal requires open heart surgery. But in many cases, the surgery can be performed robotically or using a minimally invasive technique. During surgery, the surgeon removes the tumor and the tissue around it to reduce the risk of the tumor returning. As the surgery is complicated and requires an immobile heart , a heart-lung machine will be used to take over the work of your heart and lungs during the surgery.