Mesothelioma of the atrioventricular node

Our plain-English summary of Mesothelioma of the atrioventricular node, by C. Ibarra-Perez, M.E. Korns, J.E. Edwards (Chest, 1973).

The study

• Authors: C. Ibarra-Perez, M.E. Korns, J.E. Edwards
• Journal: Chest
• Published: 1973;63(5):824-7
• Cited by: 12 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This article was a case report about one patient, followed by the authors' comments on previously reported cases. It did not mention asbestos or any other exposure. The patient was a girl first admitted to the University of Minnesota Medical Center at age 12. She had had a heart murmur since birth, and her electrocardiogram showed first degree heart block. She was readmitted at age 17 for surgery, which found two large ventricular septal defects. After the repair, complete heart block and mitral insufficiency appeared. At the end of the operation the heart could not support the circulation, and the patient died. The authors made about 600 serial microscopic sections of the area around the conduction tissue. They unexpectedly found a mesothelioma that involved only the atrioventricular node, part of the heart's conduction system. It contained several small cysts and some solid groups of cells. The authors noted that this tumor has had various names, including lymphangioendothelioma, and that 27 cases had been described before. They stated that, to their knowledge, theirs was the first such case occurring together with significant congenital heart disease.

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), with comments on previously published cases
• Who was studied: One girl, first admitted at age 12 to the University of Minnesota Medical Center with a heart murmur since birth and first degree heart block; readmitted at age 17 for heart surgery
• Main results:
  • At operation, two large ventricular septal defects were found in the patient and closed with Teflon patches
  • The patient died at the end of the operation, after complete heart block and mitral insufficiency developed
  • About 600 serial sections were made of the tissue between the defects and the atrial septum to trace the conduction tissue
  • In this patient, the mesothelioma involved only the atrioventricular node; it contained several small cysts, found only within the node
  • In this patient's tumor, some groups of cells were solid rather than forming cysts
  • In this patient, with a microscopic-sized tumor, first degree heart block had been present for at least five years
  • The authors noted that this tumor has received various names, including mesothelioma, lymphangioendothelioma and collothelioma
  • The authors counted 27 previously described cases of mesothelioma of the atrioventricular node. In an earlier review of 26 of those cases (by Manion and associates), the female-to-male ratio was 19 to 7 and ages ranged from newborn to 86 years.
  • The patient's lungs showed hypertensive pulmonary vascular disease, grade IV
• The authors' conclusion: The authors stated that, to their knowledge, this was the first case of mesothelioma of the atrioventricular node occurring together with significant congenital heart disease (two ventricular septal defects and an anomalous right ventricular muscle bundle)

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

• 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)
• Mesothelioma of the atrioventricular node and congenital complete heart block — R. Subramanian, B. Flygenring (1989)
• Primary mesothelioma of atrioventricular node: cause of sudden death — E.H. Hemsted (1986)

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