Diagnosis of cardiac occupancy as metachronous carcinoma using multimodal imaging: a case report

BACKGROUND: Metachronous carcinoma presenting as a cardiac malignancy is rare, and timely diagnosis is critical. We report a patient with a primary cardiac tumor who eventually died and performed an imaging-related literature review. CASE PRESENTATION: A 68-year-old Chinese male patient, who had suffered from multiple malignancies, was suddenly found to have severely reduced platelets and symptoms of decreased cardiac function. After undergoing a series of imaging examinations such as transthoracic echocardiography and positron emission tomography-computed tomography, he was found to have a large occupancy within the right heart and was finally diagnosed with a primary cardiac malignancy. Combined with the patient's previous medical history, it was judged that this time it was a metachronous carcinoma. The patient was unable to accept the risk of surgery and eventually died. CONCLUSION: This is a case report reporting a cardiac malignancy. This case highlights the importance of using multiple imaging modalities to make a common diagnosis and the need for more detailed evaluation in patients with metachronous carcinoma. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12872-022-02645-2.