Cardiac metastasis from primary anaplastic thyroid carcinoma: report of three cases and a review of the literature

Background: Clinically evident cardiac metastases from malignant neoplasms are uncommon. The frequency of thyroid metastasis to the heart is very low. To our knowledge, over the last 20 years only a few cases have been report ed in the entire literature. Metastatic cardiac involvement occurs most oft en during the terminal stage. Patients: We present three cases of anaplastic thyroid cancer with metastat ic involvement of the heart. Results: Two of the patients died from cardiac problems. The absence of ear ly symptoms makes the clinical diagnosis of metastatic carcinoma difficult. Conclusions: Anaplastic thyroid cancer is an aggressive cancer with a disma l prognosis. It should be borne in mind as a source of cardiac metastasis a nd a cause of cardiac death.