Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with cancerous heart tumor causing fluid buildup in chest
By Saunders, R et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary cardiology : the official journal of the European Society of Veterinary Cardiology·2021·Veterinary Specialty Services, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Intracardiac malignant nonchromaffin paraganglioma (chemodectoma) in a cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 5-year-old male Domestic Shorthair cat was brought to the vet because he had a large buildup of fluid in his chest, making it hard for him to breathe. An ultrasound of his heart showed a large mass that was blocking blood flow, which was causing the fluid buildup. After considering various possible causes, the vet determined that the mass was a rare type of cancer called a malignant paraganglioma. Unfortunately, due to the poor prognosis and ongoing health issues, the decision was made to humanely euthanize the cat.
People also search for: cat pleural effusion treatment · cat heart mass symptoms · malignant tumor in cat treatment
Abstract
A 5-year-old male castrated Domestic Shorthair cat was presented to a veterinary specialty hospital for evaluation of large-volume pleural effusion. Echocardiography revealed a large intracardiac mass at the level of the interatrial septum impairing right atrial inflow resulting in lymphocytic pleural effusion and ascites. Differential diagnoses included lymphoma, hemangiosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, chemodectoma, neurofibrosarcoma, myxoma, metastatic carcinoma or intracardiac thrombus, abscess or granuloma. Due to poor long-term prognosis and recurrent, large-volume pleural effusion, the cat was humanely euthanized. The heart was submitted for histopathologic evaluation. The mass was subsequently determined to be a malignant extra-adrenal nonchromaffin paraganglioma (chemodectoma) arising from the pulmonary trunk near its bifurcation in the region of the glomus pulmonale. Chemodectomas are rare in cats and to the authors' knowledge, there are no reports of one originating from the glomus pulmonale.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34399378/