A challenging case of eosinophilic myocarditis leading to heart failure and transplantation.

The large spectrum of etiologies, severities, and histologic appearances of eosinophilic myocarditis (EoM) poses challenges to its diagnosis and management. Endomyocardial biopsy is the current gold standard for diagnosis. However, cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging is becoming more frequently used to diagnose acute myocarditis because of enhanced sensitivity when compared to histopathologic examination, and its less invasive nature. We report a complicated case of EoM in a male in his mid-thirties that led to fulminant cardiogenic shock that required immunosuppressive therapy on day 5 of admission and implantation of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) on day 30. EoM was diagnosed on histopathologic examination of the resected fragment of the left ventricular myocardium. Nine months after the initial presentation, the patient ultimately required heart transplantation. The explanted heart showed minimal residual interstitial inflammation with evidence of mildly active intimal arteritis and patchy areas of interstitial fibrosis. In this report, we describe our patient's clinical features and correlate them with imaging and histopathologic findings to illustrate the difficulty in diagnosing EoM, particularly in this complicated patient that ultimately required heart transplantation. The diagnosis can be challenging due to the variable histopathologic features, clinical presentation, and utilization of therapeutic medications and devices.

Resection of a giant thoracic solitary fibrous tumor treated with preoperative arterial coiling followed by a double-level thoracotomy.

Solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) are rare pleura neoplasms often localized to middle or inferior hemithorax. A middle-aged woman presents to the emergency department following a motor vehicle accident, the computed tomography scan revealed a giant tumor occupying the entire left pleural cavity with a complete collapse of the left lung and substantial right deviation of heart and mediastinum. Using preoperative arterial coiling followed by a double-level thoracotomy we successfully resected the giant tumor. The SFT weighed ~10 lbs. At 2-month follow-up visit patient reports mild discomfort during strenuous movement/heavy lifting but denies any shortness of breath.