Inflow Venous Occlusion for Intracardiac Resection of an Occluding Right Ventricular Tumor

Use of normothermic venous inflow occlusion enabled removal of an intracardiac tumor in a 4 yr old, 27 kg, spayed female Airedale terrier with a history of appendicular osteosarcoma and recent exertional syncope. Inflow venous occlusion via a median sternotomy thoracotomy without hypothermia was used to access the mineralized mass within the right ventricular outflow tract. Duration of circulatory arrest was 70 s for this beating heart surgery. A circumscribed intracardiac chondrosarcoma tumor was marginally resected in this dog, successfully alleviating exertional syncope and restoring a normal echogenic appearance of the right heart. Asymptomatic intracardiac chondrosarcoma recurrence and pulmonary metastasis was detected at 309 days and cardiopulmonary arrest occurred 372 days following intracardiac surgery. Use of inflow occlusion is a viable technique for select intracardiac tumors in dogs with preoperative planning.