PRIMARY RHABDOMYOSARCOMA OF THE HEART PRESENTING WITH INCREASED INTRACRANIAL-PRESSURE

An 18-month-old boy presented with signs of increased intracranial pre ssure. Computed tomographic scans of the brain and lungs showed multip le masses in the brain and lungs. Echocardiography revealed homogeneou s, irregular pericardial thickening, minimal pericardial effusion, and irregular echogenic areas in the left ventricular inferoposterior and apical regions. Postmortem examination of tumor tissue showed that th e masses were primary rhabdomyosarcoma of the left ventricle with mult iple metastases. Primary rhabdomyosarcoma of the heart is uncommon, es pecially in patients under 2 years of age.