Debulking of malignant cardiac tumour discovered at operation for presumed right atrial thrombus obstructing the tricuspid valve

Primary cardiac lymphomas (PCL) are rare neoplasms. They occur at any age and are rare in immunocompetent patients, accounting for 1.3% of all cardiac tumours and 0.5% of all extranodal lymphomas. PCL have been increasingly found in patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).1 PCL are difficult to diagnose, especially during the early stages of the disease when their manifestations are non-specific.2
Discovery of a malignant cardiac tumour at operation would usually be managed by biopsy and closure without resection, and inevitably would result in early mortality. We report a patient who is alive 12 months after resection of a primary cardiac non-Hodgkin’s B cell lymphoma.