Cardiac metastasis from adenocarcinoma of the lung. Echocardiographic-pathologic correlation

Metastatic cancer to the heart is difficult to diagnose ante-mortem. This report describes a patient with adenocarcinoma of the lung who presented with cardiac manifestations mimicking coronary artery disease. Two-dimensional echocardiography demonstrated massive cardiac infiltration with tumor, correlating with subsequent autopsy findings, which were also remarkable for endocardial implants and coronary artery emboli without myocardial infarction. Use of two-dimensional echocardiography may detect intracardiac tumor at an earlier stage.