Secondary Malignant Disease of the Heart

A study of the literature concerning malignant disease of the heart teaches that whilst primary tumours are rare, secondary deposits are not infrequently found. The following figures are illustrative. Scott and Garvin (1939), in a series of 11,100 autopsies, including 1,082 performed in cases of malignant disease, reported secondary malignant disease as follows-heart, 79 cases (7 * 3 per cent); pericardium, 61 cases (5 7 per cent); heart and pericardium, 140 cases (12 * 9 per cent). Willis reported an incidence of 6-2 per cent; Burke, 4 2 per cent; Helwig, 0 9 per cent; Pollia and Gogol, 2 per cent; Lymburner, 0 6 per cent; and Symmers, 1 6 per cent. The subject is of more than academic interest, for with a better understanding it may be possible to establish a diagnosis during life in a greater number of patients, and the institution of certain forms of treatment, even though these are of a palliative nature. The symptomatology will therefore be reviewed, and attention drawn to the electrocardiographic findings in these patients. This paper is based on a series of 51 cases of secondary malignant disease of the heart which were collected at the Royal Cancer Hospital from the autopsy records for the years 1930 to 1945 inclusive. The data obtained by analyses of these cases is set out in the following series of tables: