Primary Cardiac Intimal Sarcoma Visualized on 2-[18F]FDG PET/CT

Abstract

Primary cardiac tumors are extremely rare, with an incidence of 0.001–0.03%. Twenty-five percent of these tumors are malignant, with sarcomas accounting for approximately 95%. Cardiac intimal sarcoma is the least reported subtype of primary cardiac sarcoma. These endocardial mesenchymal tumors most often arise from great arterial vessels, and are rarely located in the heart. They often present with an aggressive clinical course and have a poor prognosis, with surgical resection with achievement of free margins being the mainstay of treatment. This emphasizes the importance of an early, correct diagnosis and timely intervention. We report a 60-year-old Caucasian male with several former cardiac surgical procedures due to congenital aortic stenosis, presenting with functional mitral stenosis/insufficiency and left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) due to massive masses in the left ventricle and atrium of the heart. Hybrid imaging with 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (2-[18F]FDG PET/CT) was performed prior to surgery to characterize the intracardiac masses and estimate tumor burden, as well as to identify a potential extracardiac primary malignancy.