Histologically confirmed case of complete atrioventricular block due to hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

A 72-year-old man, who had been diagnosed as having hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with multiple extrahepatic metastasis, complained a general fatigue which appeared 2 weeks before admission. Because bradycardia was detected on physical examination, ECG was performed which revealed the complete atrioventricular (AV) block. We stopped Ca-blocker and β-blocker, but the bradycardia persisted. He was admitted to our hospital for an emergent pacemaker implantation. On admission, he complained dyspnoea. After the surgery, he died due to deterioration of heart failure. The autopsy revealed cardiac metastasis of HCC on AV node, so it was suspected that cardiac metastasis caused the AV block. We thought that the cause of his death was the exacerbation of heart failure associated with bradycardia. It was likely that complete AV block as a very rare complication caused by cardiac metastasis of HCC influenced the prognosis of this patient.