Surgery for primary intrapericardial tumors in adults

Our plain-English summary of Surgery for primary intrapericardial tumors in adults, by S. Taguchi, R. Yozu (Journal of Cardiac Surgery, 2013).

The study

• Authors: S. Taguchi, R. Yozu
• Journal: Journal of Cardiac Surgery
• Published: 2013;28(5):529-32
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 5 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Primary intrapericardial tumors in adults, whether benign or malignant are rare. Surgical treatment for these tumors are reviewed together with their incidence, classification, clinical features, and diagnosis.

© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

In plain English

This article was a review, not a new study. The authors, from the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at Keio University Hospital in Tokyo, summarized published sources on primary tumors that arise inside the pericardium (the sac around the heart) in adults. They covered how common these tumors are, how they are classified, their symptoms and diagnosis, and surgical treatment. The article did not mention asbestos or any other exposure. Citing earlier sources, the review stated that tumors spreading to the pericardium from elsewhere account for more than 95% of pericardial tumors, and that primary pericardial tumors are 40 times less common. It cited reports that malignant mesotheliomas make up 50% of primary pericardial tumors, and that pericardial mesotheliomas are less than 1% of all malignant mesotheliomas. The review stated that surgery is usually needed both for diagnosis and for treatment. For malignant pericardial mesothelioma, it described partial resection combined with chemotherapy and radiation in some cases, and palliative pericardiectomy, but stated that this tumor is almost uniformly fatal within 1 year. It described benign intrapericardial tumors as generally having a good prognosis.

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: Review article (narrative review of published literature; no new patients or data)
• Who was studied: Published literature on primary intrapericardial tumors, benign and malignant, in adults; no study population of its own
• Main results:
  • Citing earlier sources, the review stated that secondary (metastatic or infiltrating) tumors account for more than 95% of pericardial neoplastic diseases, and that primary pericardial tumors are 40 times less common than metastatic ones
  • Citing the Atlas of Tumor Pathology (Armed Forces Institute of Pathology), the review reported that among 64 primary cysts and tumors of the pericardium, 37 (58%) were mesothelial cysts, and malignant mesotheliomas and sarcomas each accounted for eight cases (13%)
  • Citing earlier sources, the review stated that malignant mesotheliomas account for 50% of primary pericardial tumors, and that pericardial mesotheliomas represent less than 1% of all malignant mesotheliomas
  • The review stated that, for primary pericardial tumors, surgery is usually required for both diagnosis and treatment
  • For malignant pericardial mesothelioma, the review cited reports that partial resection combined with chemotherapy and radiation therapy may be performed in some cases with long-term survival, and that pericardiectomy may be palliative. It stated that despite these attempts the tumor is almost uniformly fatal within 1 year
  • The review stated that benign intrapericardial tumors generally have a good prognosis

Related studies

• Primary tumors and cysts of the heart and pericardium — H.A. McAllister (1979)
• Neoplastic Pericardial Disease — J.J. Maleszewski, N.S. Anavekar (2017)
• Surgical pathology of primary cardiac and pericardial tumors — C. Basso, M. Valente, et al. (1997)
• Unusual primary tumors of the heart — T.J. Vander Salm (2000)
• Primary sarcomatoid malignant pericardial mesothelioma — D. Jiang, M. Kong, et al. (2013)
• Primary pericardial tumors — C.S. Restrepo, D. Vargas, et al. (2013)

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