Cardiac fibroma presenting as sudden death in a six-month-old infant

Cardiac fibroma is a rare benign tumour which occurs predominantly in infancy and childhood. We present the case of a six-month-old female infant who died suddenly at home and was found at autopsy to have a large cardiac fibroma in the ventricular septum. The tumor was apparently asymptomatic although there was evidence of mild cardiac failure. Death was thought to be due to a fatal arrhythmia. (Au)

Intracardiac extension of a Wilms' tumour

A case report is presented of a Wilms' tumour in a three-year-old child. Direct intravascular extension into the heart led to a fatal outcome. Though a rare complication, clinical suspicion, combined with appropriated investigation and management, should lead to salvage of such a patient (AU)

Left atrial myxoma: an unusual cause of acute pulmonary oedema

A case of left atrial myxoma presenting as acute pulmonary oedema is described. As far as we are aware, this is the report in the West Indian medical literature of accurate pre-operative diagnosis and successful surgical excision of such a tumour. Recent improvements in the accuracy of pre-operative diagnosis are discussed, and the present day availability of surgical excision, utilising cardio-pulmonary bypass with excellent post-operative results at low-risk, make response of this case of considerable importance. (AU)

Gamna body of the heart

A patient with cerebral stroke has a cardiac tumour excised. Histologically, it was an infarcted myxoma with features of a gamna body. Findings are compared with other cardiac gamna bodies reported in the literature. Most probably represents unusual degenerative changes in a myxoma. (AU)

Large calcified right atrial myxoma in a newborn: rare cause of neonatal death

A newborn baby girl presented at birth with severe cyanosis, congestive cardiac failure, and an ischaemic leg ulcer, and died within 10 hours of birth. Necropsy disclosed a large haemorrhagic, calcified right atrial myxoma obstructing the tricuspid valve (AU)

Cardiac rhabdomyoma in infancy. A case report

We describe a case of rhabdomyoma of the heart in a newborn infant and present an overview of current knowledge about the natural history of these lesions, with implications for management. This is the only case of its kind seen at this hospital. (AU)