A case of mesothelioma pericardii

Our plain-English summary of A case of mesothelioma pericardii, by E.L. Cardozo, J.F. Saltet (Acta Medica Scandinavica, 1965).

The study

• Authors: E.L. Cardozo, J.F. Saltet
• Journal: Acta Medica Scandinavica
• Published: 1965;178(3):301-7
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 7 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Report on a primary mesothelioma of the pericardium in a 54-year-old woman. Cytological studies of the aspired exudate enabled us to establish the diagnosis of pericardial tumour before death. Notwithstanding repeated punctures, the course of the disease was rapidly fatal, with signs of heart tamponade. At autopsy metastases were found in the pleura, the liver and the bone marrow. The clinical and pathological features are discussed.

PubMed has no abstract for this study. This is the authors' abstract, copied from the article.

In plain English

This case report from the Netherlands describes a 54-year-old woman with a primary mesothelioma of the pericardium, the sac around the heart. She came to hospital in March 1964 after three weeks of breathlessness and palpitations. Signs pointed to fluid around the heart. Draining it removed 700 ml of bloody fluid and brought immediate relief, but the fluid kept returning despite repeated drainage. Cell studies of the drained fluid allowed the authors to diagnose a pericardial tumour before death. She died on March 31, 1964. At autopsy, tumour spread was found in the pleura, liver and bone marrow. The authors judged the cause of death to be chronic compression of the heart combined with multiple blood clots in the lungs. They also reported 8 pericardial mesothelioma cases over a 19-year period (4 men and 4 women, aged 42-80), none with evidence of pericarditis. The article gives no asbestos exposure history for this patient. Citing South African reports, the authors suggested only that some pericardial mesotheliomas may result from asbestos particles carried in the lymphatics.

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, with a brief mention of the authors' own series of pericardial mesothelioma cases
• Who was studied: one 54-year-old woman seen at a hospital in Gouda, Netherlands, in March 1964; the authors also mention 8 pericardial mesothelioma cases (4 men, 4 women, aged 42-80) found over a 19-year period, including this one
• Exposure: No asbestos exposure is reported for this patient. In the discussion, the authors raised as a possibility, based on other researchers' South African reports, that some pericardial mesotheliomas result from asbestos particles transported in the lymphatics.
• Main results:
  • Pericardial puncture on March 16 removed 700 ml of haemorrhagic fluid and brought immediate relief, but the effusion returned and puncture was repeated on March 20, 25 and 29
  • Cytological study of the aspirated fluid allowed the diagnosis of a pericardial tumour before death
  • The patient died on March 31, 1964
  • At autopsy, metastases were found in the pleura, the liver and the bone marrow
  • The authors judged the immediate cause of death to be a combination of chronic heart tamponade and multiple pulmonary embolism
  • The tumour was of the mixed malignant type, as were all the other cases the authors mention
  • Over a 19-year period the authors found 8 cases of pericardial mesothelioma (4 men and 4 women, aged 42-80), with no evidence of pericarditis in any of them
• The authors' conclusion: The authors reported that cytology of the aspirated fluid allowed diagnosis before death, but that despite repeated punctures the disease was rapidly fatal. They stressed that diagnosis is difficult even from tissue examination, because an undetected cancer elsewhere can never be definitely ruled out.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors state that an undetected carcinoma elsewhere in the body can never be definitely ruled out, even with tissue examination
  • The authors state that cytology usually cannot distinguish mesothelioma from other types of malignant tumour
  • The brain was not examined at autopsy because permission was not given

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, Pericardium, Exudate, Pericardial, Autopsy, Pleura.

Related studies

• Malignant mesothelioma arising after direct application of asbestos and fiber glass to the pericardium — A. Churg, M.L. Warnock, et al. (1978)
• Surgical pathology of primary cardiac and pericardial tumors — C. Basso, M. Valente, et al. (1997)
• Primary tumors and cysts of the heart and pericardium — H.A. McAllister (1979)
• Primary pericardial tumors — C.S. Restrepo, D. Vargas, et al. (2013)
• Primary pericardial mesothelioma: report of two cases and review of the literature — A.L. Sytman, R.N. MacAlpin (1971)
• Primary malignant mesothelioma of the pericardium. Case report and literature review — R. Thomason, W. Schlegel, et al. (1994)

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