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Symptomatic and lethal congenital primary cardiac rhabdomyoma

  • Mercedes Olaya-C ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Jorge Andres Franco and Oscar Alberto Messa
Published/Copyright: November 21, 2019

Abstract

Background

Congenital tumors, including mesenchymal rhabdomyoma, are highly infrequent. The combination of a congenital tumor and rhabdomyoma is rarer yet, even more so when primary origin is in the heart.

Case presentation

We present a case of fetal hydrops fetalis, wherein the post-mortem exam revealed a cardiac tumor more than twice the size of the heart itself; histological study confirmed primary rhabdomyoma involving the left ventricle.

Conclusion

It is essential to keep in mind that fetal tumors should always be differentiated from malformations; in fetuses tissue immaturity must be taken into account for categorization; despite benign labeling, they can be lethal.

Acknowledgments

We thank the parents who authorized pathology studies and reports. We also extend our thanks to Steven W. Bayless for the English language text correction.

  1. Ethical approval: The research related to human use has complied with all the relevant national regulations, institutional policies and has been conducted in accordance with the tenets of the Helsinki Declaration, and it has been approved by the authors’ Institutional Review Board or equivalent committee.

  2. Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

  3. Research funding: None declared.

  4. Employment or leadership: None declared.

  5. Honorarium: None declared.

  6. Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.

  7. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.

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Received: 2019-04-06
Accepted: 2019-08-31
Published Online: 2019-11-21

© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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