A descriptive review of cardiac tumours in dogs and cats

Cardiac tumours are uncommon in the canine and feline population and often an incidental finding. Common types include haemangiosarcoma (HSA), aortic body tumours (chemodectoma and paraganglioma) and lymphoma. These neoplasms can cause mild to severe, life-threatening clinical signs that are independent of the histological type and may be related to altered cardiovascular function or local haemorrhage/effusion into the pericardial space. Cardiac tumours may require symptomatic treatment aimed at controlling tumour bleeding and potential arrhythmias, and other signs caused by the mass effect. Additional treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. For all medical therapies, complete remission is unlikely and medical management, beyond adjunctive chemotherapy in HSA, requires further investigation but combination chemotherapy is recommended for lymphoma. The aim of this report is to summarize and critically appraise the current literature in a descriptive review. However, interpretation is limited by the lack of definitive diagnosis and retrospective nature of most studies.