Primary Cardiac Tumors: Clinical Presentations and Pathological Features in a Multicenter Cohort.

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Oncology
• Pathology

Background:

• Cardiac tumors are rare but present with diverse clinical outcomes.
• The 2021 WHO classification identifies papillary fibroelastoma (PFE) as the most common primary cardiac tumor.
• Understanding the epidemiology and clinical features of cardiac tumors is crucial for diagnosis and management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To aggregate and analyze data on the prevalence, clinical characteristics, and histological findings of cardiac tumors.
• To compare real-world data with the current World Health Organization (WHO) classification of thoracic tumors.
• To provide epidemiological and clinical insights into heart tumors within Turkey.

Main Methods:

• A multicenter retrospective study involving 274 patients with histopathologically confirmed cardiac tumors.
• Data collected from seven tertiary care institutions between January 2013 and December 2024.
• Analysis of patient demographics, clinical presentations, diagnostic methods (primarily echocardiography), tumor types, and post-surgical outcomes.

Main Results:

• The study included 274 patients (43.8% male, 56.2% female) with an average age of 52.6 years.
• Most common symptoms included dyspnea (43.7%), thoracic pain (22.5%), and palpitations (21.1%).
• Cardiac myxoma (CM) was the most frequent tumor (70.1%), followed by PFE (10.2%) and metastatic tumors (6.9%).

Conclusions:

• Cardiac tumors present diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.
• Cardiac myxoma is the most common primary cardiac tumor, contrary to the 2021 WHO classification which lists PFE.
• Discrepancies suggest potential regional and demographic influences on cardiac tumor distribution.