Solitary myocardial metastasis from neuroendocrine tumor: surgical resection as curative surgery

We present the case of a 70-year-old man with intramyocardial solitary metastasis from a carcinoid bowel tumor. One year previously, he had undergone distal ileum resection for a neuroendocrine tumor. Asymptomatic recurrence was diagnosed with the combination of elevated chromogranin A serum level and somatostatin receptor scintigraphy. The tumor was located on the right ventricle free wall, without obstruction of the right ventricular outflow tract and absence of carcinoid syndrome or liver involvement. Complete resection was obtained under cardiopulmonary bypass. The patient is currently alive without disease 2 years after surgery. Oncologists should be aware of the heart as a possible site of neuroendocrine metastatic disease. This case highlights the value of positron emission tomography with somatostatin analogs for earlier and more frequent metastasis detection. Persistent remission can be obtained with complete surgical resection when the metastatic tumor is localized in the right ventricle without evidence of carcinoid heart disease.