Open AccessEchocardiographic detection of kaposi's sarcoma causing cardiac tamponade in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
Author(s) -
Chyu KuangYuh,
Birnbaum Yochai,
Naqvi Tasneem,
Siegel Robert J.,
Fishbein Michael C.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
clinical cardiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.263
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1932-8737
pISSN - 0160-9289
DOI - 10.1002/clc.4960210217
Subject(s) - medicine , pericardial effusion , sarcoma , cardiac tamponade , pericardium , tamponade , etiology , autopsy , kaposi's sarcoma , differential diagnosis , pathology , radiology , cardiology , human herpesvirus
Pericardial effusions are common in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The differential diagnosis is diverse, and in most cases the etiology cannot be established. A cardiac tamponade was diagnosed in a 32‐year‐old male with AIDS and systemic Kaposi's sarcoma. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a large pericardial effusion with right atrial collapse and a mobile multilobular mass at the apex protruding into pericardial space. Autopsy showed that this mass was Kaposi's sarcoma confined to the epicardial fat. This is the first case of cardiac Kaposi's sarcoma detected premortem by echocardiography.