Sudden unexpected death due to asymptomatic cardiac rhabdomyoma.

A case of cardiac rhabdomyoma producing sudden unexpected death in an asymptomatic six-year-old boy is reported. Cardiac rhabdomyoma is a rare tumor, and its ability to cause sudden unexpected death in children beyond infancy is not generally known. The great majority of afflicted patients die in the early infancy; few survive beyond five years of age. The signs and symptoms present in most cases are said to be due to interference of interaction blood flow or to interruption of the cardiac conduction system. Numerous cases have been clinically misdiagnosed because of this tumor's ability to mimic other cardiac disease.