Embryonal carcinoma of the testis with metastases to the right atrium

Metastases to the heart are rarely diagnosed before death. In this report the authors describe what they believe is the first case of metastasis from embryonal carcinoma of the testis to the heart that was successfully removed. Nine years after orchiectomy for embryonal carcinoma of the testis a 32-year-old man was found to have a right atrial tumour. The preliminary diagnosis was myxoma, but because of his previous testicular cancer and a metastatic deposit that had been found 6 years earlier, a diagnosis of cardiac metastasis seemed more likely. The tumour, removed from the lateral wall of the right atrium, had the same histologic features as the original embryonal carcinoma and the metastatic deposit. The patient made a smooth recovery.