An unusual story of electrical storm on the graft.
Abstract
Background: Cancers, and specifically lymphomas, are one of the main
causes of morbidity and mortality after heart transplant. We encountered
this complication on a 54-year-old male patient, which brought to our
attention the lack of a specific and appropriate treatment for a primary
cardiac lymphoma on the graft. Objective: This case report highlights
the challenging management of primitive heart transplant lymphoma and
its treatment. Method: electronic medical record literature reviewed
through Pubmed interface of Medline. Result: We report the case of an
Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) induced primary cardiac lymphoma on the graft.
The lymphoma spread quickly in spite of the numerous treatments we tried
and resulted in rhythmic complication. Endocavitary implantable
cardioverter defibrillator was implanted but quickly removed due to
local complications. The patient died from a sudden death at home
shortly after. Conclusions: Primary cardiac lymphoma on the graft is
highly rare with poor prognosis and rhythmic complications. Further
studies are needed to assess the benefits of other treatment approaches,
such as radiofrequency ablation techniques.