A case report of a massive cardiac intimal sarcoma manifesting as syncope during a stress test

Background Syncope has many aetiologies but from a cardiac standpoint, if arrhythmogenic and ischaemic causes are not present, obstructive lesions should be considered. Cardiac spindle cell sarcomas are incredibly rare and difficult to cure. Case summary A 62-year-old man presented for exercise stress test and had a syncopal episode on the treadmill. He was found to have a massive mass obstructing the transmitral flow. Patient was taken to the operating room and the mass was resected successfully. Histopathological confirmation revealed the mass to be a cardiac intimal sarcoma. Patient was initiated on a trial regimen of doxorubin, ifosfamide, and mesna. Discussion Cardiac intimal sarcomas are aggressive cancers and are difficult to treat; there are no established treatment guidelines. They can lead to obstruction of blood flow through the cardiac chambers. From a cardiac perspective, without arrhythmogenic and ischaemic causes of syncope, obstructive lesions should be considered.