ABSTRACT

Cardiac metastases due to malignities are rare. They are usually diagnosed as a finding of aggressive tumors and advanced stage disease, and frequently in autopsy series. We herein present a case of non-small cell lung cancer diagnosed with the aid of cardiac metastasis in a breast cancer patient in remission. A 73-year-old female patient who had had a diagnosis of bilateral breast cancer admitted with dyspnea 19 years after the last diagnosis. A mass lesion in left lower lobe of the lung, pleural effusion and minimal pericardial effusion were detected with ultrasonography and computed tomography. Surgical resection, and morphological and immunohistochemical examination of the mass in left atrium revealed the metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer, and systemic chemotherapy was started. The case is interesting since a lung carcinoma with cardiac metastasis was detected at the time of diagnosis in a patient who had previously had two primary breast cancers. Probability of cardiac metastasis should be considered in cancer patients with cardiac symptoms.

Keywords: Lung cancer, atrial mass, cardiac metastasis, breast cancer