Primary cardiac lymphoma.

An 80-year-old man who initially presented with a left hemiparesis rapidly developed right-sided heart failure and died. Although an echocardiogram suggested the presence of a tumor, the diagnosis of a primary cardiac lymphoma was made only at autopsy. The tumor involved a leaflet of the tricuspid valve, a finding not previously reported in the literature. In 1977, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology defined a primary malignant lymphoma of the heart as that involving only the heart and pericardium. Many reports of primary cardiac malignant lymphomas have been published, however, most of which mention the presence of metastases. We have reviewed the world literature to determine the number of actual cases of primary malignant lymphoma of the heart. Only 15 reported cases, including the current case, were found to meet the current criteria.