CARDIAC MYXOMA WITH GLANDULAR ELEMENTS METASTATIC TO THE BRAIN 12 YEARS AFTER THE REMOVAL OF THE ORIGINAL TUMOR

This report describes a case of cardiac myxoma with glandular elements metastatic to the brain. The histological appearance of the brain tum or was characterized by irregularly shaped glands lined by a single la yer of mucous-secreting cells. The glands rested on a stroma made of c onnective tissue with myxoid changes in which short cords of cells wit h eosinophilic cytoplasm were occasionally detected. The cardiac tumor was a myxoma in which only 2 small glandular structures were identifi ed. Immunohistochemically? the gland-lining cells were positively stai ned by cytokeratin AE1-AE3, CAM 5.2, and B 72.3. CEA was detected as a thin layer on the luminal surface of the cells and in the cytoplasm o f goblet cells. The myxoma cells in the stroma were not stained by cyt okeratins. This is the first report of brain metastases from a cardiac myxoma made of glandular elements.