Mesothelioma (coelothelioma) of the atrioventricular node

Our plain-English summary of Mesothelioma (coelothelioma) of the atrioventricular node, by R.T. Lafargue, A.M. Hand, M. Lev (Chest, 1971).

The study

• Authors: R.T. Lafargue, A.M. Hand, M. Lev
• Journal: Chest
• Published: 1971;59(5):571-4
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 14 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This article is a case report about one patient with a rare, benign tumor that the authors called mesothelioma (coelothelioma) of the atrioventricular (AV) node, part of the heart's electrical conduction system. The article does not mention asbestos or any other exposure. The patient, a 48-year-old Caucasian man, was admitted to a Louisiana hospital in April 1968 after fainting episodes. His electrocardiogram showed complete AV block, with the ventricles beating at 43 per minute. A pacemaker was implanted, but he developed a dangerous heart rhythm and died on April 9, 1968. The diagnosis made while he was alive was congenital AV block and acute myocardial infarction. At autopsy the authors studied 1,080 microscopic sections of the heart. Tumor had replaced the approaches to the AV node and most of the node itself, but it had not invaded the AV bundle. The tumor cells showed no anaplasia and no mitotic figures. The authors said the immediate cause of death was not clear. They concluded that, because the tumor grows slowly and might be removed surgically, benign mesothelioma should be considered in cases of partial AV block.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: case report (single patient, clinical and autopsy study)
• Who was studied: one 48-year-old Caucasian man admitted to T. E. Schumpert Memorial Hospital, Shreveport, Louisiana, on April 1, 1968
• Main results:
  • On admission the patient's electrocardiogram showed complete AV block with a nodal pacemaker driving the ventricles at 43 per minute
  • After a permanent pacemaker was inserted, the patient died on April 9, 1968; the clinical diagnosis was congenital AV block and acute myocardial infarction
  • The authors studied 1,080 microscopic sections of this patient's heart
  • Pathologic diagnosis: benign mesothelioma (coelothelioma) of the atrial septum, replacing the approaches to the AV node and most of the node
  • The tumor did not invade the AV bundle
  • The tumor cells showed no anaplasia and no mitotic figures
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that, because the tumor grows slowly and in a limited way and could possibly be removed surgically, benign mesothelioma should be considered in cases of partial AV block. They considered the tumor to originate from epicardial or pericardial cell rests.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that the immediate cause of death was not clear. They suggested that bleeding caused by the pacemaker insertion may have caused the final abnormal heart rhythm.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma.

Related studies

• Mesothelioma of the atrioventricular node: first successful follow-up after excision — S. Balasundaram, S.A. Halees, et al. (1992)
• Congenital polycystic tumor of the atrioventricular node (endodermal heterotopia, mesothelioma): a histogenetic appraisal with evidence for its endodermal origin — G. Fine, U. Raju (1987)
• Mesothelioma of the atrioventricular node — K. Nishida, G. Kamijima, et al. (1985)
• "Mesothelioma of the atrioventricular node" with long-standing complete heart block. Report of a case — I.R. Wanless, B.W. Mielke, et al. (1975)
• Corpora amylacea in mesothelioma of the atrioventricular node — R. David, Y. Hiss (1978)
• Fatal heart block due to mesothelioma of the atrioventricular node — D.W. Evans, P.G. Stovin (1986)

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