A 20-Year Experience With Resection of Primary Cardiac Tumors and Metastatic Tumors of the Heart

Background Cardiac tumors are uncommon, occurring in less than 1% of the population, and are comprised of numerous tumor types. Management of certain tumors types such as sarcoma have evolved and improved in the recent era. We evaluate the outcomes of patients who underwent resection of benign or malignant cardiac tumors with a focused review of cardiac sarcomas. Methods Institutional data were reviewed from 1997 to 2017, and 180 patients who underwent tumor resection were identified. Outcomes and survival were examined based on tumor type. Results Two-thirds of patients (119 of 180) had benign tumors. Of 61 malignant tumors, 23 were sarcomas, 24 were cavoatrial tumors, and 8 were T4 lung tumors. In the sarcoma group, operative mortality was 2 of 23 (9.1%). Neoadjuvant therapy was administered to 8 of 23 patients (34.8%) with R0 resection achieved in 5 of 8 patients (62.5%). R0 resection was successful in 7 of 15 patients (46.7%) without neoadjuvant therapy. Mean survival with neoadjuvant therapy was 2.76 ± 3.85 years versus 1.28 ± 1.31 years without neoadjuvant therapy ( p  = 0.428). Mean survival with R0 resection was 2.79 ± 4.23 years compared with 1.64 ± 1.63 years without ( p  = 0.407). In the T4 lung tumor group, operative mortality was zero and R0 resection was achieved in 6 of 8 (75%). The cavoatrial tumors were mostly renal cell carcinoma resected with a mortality of 4.5%. Conclusions Cardiac tumors are comprised of diverse tumor types. Indications for, and benefits of, resecting benign tumors and many malignant tumor types are clear, and operative outcomes are generally good. Cardiac sarcomas benefit from neoadjuvant therapy, which improves the rate of complete resection, thus improving survival.