Cardiovascular Anatomy and Cardiac Malignancy

This chapter will cover basic cardiac anatomy and tumors that are commonly found in the heart. The heart is divided into four chambers: left atrium, right atrium, left ventricle, and right ventricle. Different cardiac chambers have a propensity to have different cardiac masses or tumors. Cardiac tumors are rare entities: metastasis to the heart from another primary cancer is 30 times more likely (Bisel, Wróblew ski, & LaDue, 1953). Malignancies that are commonly associated with metastasis to the heart include breast, lung, leukemia, sarcoma, and melanoma, although almost any cancer can metastasize to the heart (Hanfling, 1960). The incidence of primary cardiac tumors ranges from 0.3%–0.7% in most autopsy series, with 75% of these being benign (Yu, Liu, Wang, Hu, & Long, 2007). Clinical presentation and treatment of cardiac tumors frequently depend on the chamber location and malignant potential. If the tumor is malignant and not resected, 90% of patients are deceased within 9–12 months; even with resection, prognosis can be poor (Reardon, 2010).