Endocardial metastases as the only site of relapse in a patient with bladder carcinoma: a case report and review of the literature.

Tumors metastatic to the heart (cardiac metastases) are infrequent and few systematic studies on this topic have been published. Urothelial carcinomas are among the rarest associated with heart metastases and all cases reported to date concern autopsy examinations. We present the first report of urothelial carcinoma metastatic to the endocardium diagnosed antemortem. Notably, the endocardiac infiltration was the only site of recurrence and occurred 6 years after original diagnosis of bladder carcinoma. Although rare enough, the possibility of heart metastases without any other signs of recurrence should be included in the differential diagnosis in cases of urothelial cancer with increasing fatigue and dyspnea. Copyright 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.