Cardiac tumors

Primary cardiac tumors are rare and their subdivision often difficult because of their unknown origin. In the most recent classification, cardiac tumors are divided into benign (about 75% and malignant neoplasms in relationship to their tissue differentiation (rhabdomyoma, haemangioma, etc.) or uncertain aetiology (myxoma, papillary fibroelastoma). Primary malignant tumors are maimly represented by sarcomas. The most frequent tumor is cardiac myxoma, which by itself represents about 50% of all primary cardiac neoplasms. Although non-invasive technologies as trans-esophageal ecocardiography allow the detection and exact localization of cardiac mass, clinical diagnosis is often tardive. This is due, besides the intrinsic rarity, to two main factors: first, the tumor is often asymptomatic (incidental autopic finding) or; alternatively, it may show aspecif symptoms mimicking heart failure or other pathologies. In this article, clinicopathological features of main primary cardiac tumors are presented. Investigation of the histogenesis of some of these neoplasms is still a primary field of research.