OBJECTIVE:

The primary tumors of the heart are extremely rare. There are divided to benign, malignant and metastatic. Metastatic cardiac tumors are more common.

METHODS:

The incidence in contemporary echocardiographic series is reported at a higher frequency of 0.15%. 75% of cardiac tumors are benign; approximately half of these are cardiac mommas. The malignant cardiac tumors are mostly histopathologically undifferentiated, followed by leiomyosarcomas and angio-sarcomas.

RESULTS:

Cardiac tumors have a wide range of unique clinical presentation. Even the most benign and smallest tumor can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. The clinical presentations of the primary cardiac tumors are due to: blood flow obstruction, tumor embolization and constitutional symptoms. Clinical presentations can be varied and may resemble coronary disease, pericarditis, cardiomyopathy or valve malfunction. The recent technological advances in non-invasive imaging modalities such as echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging is rapidly increases the early diagnosis and management approach.

CONCLUSION:

In this review we aim to summarize the characterization of the most common cardiac tumors. Early recognition and treatment provided the best results (Tab. 2, Fig. 6, Ref. 66).