Cerebral Emboli From Cardiac Tumors

Cerebrovascular occlusion resulting in infarction by tumor emboli is quite rare.¹ In some instances, this may be due to tumor emboli passing through a patent foramen ovale, to passage of the emboli through the lesser pulmonary circulation,² or to emboli originating from bronchial neoplasms during pneumonectomy.³ An exceedingly rare cause is the embolization from primary cardiac tumors. This rarity is, in part, a reflection of the low incidence of these tumors. Their incidence has been figured at 0.05% of all necropsies.⁴ Unfortunately, the clinical history and findings in the few cardiac tumors with cerebral embolization from tumor fragments is not consistent enough to constitute a definite syndrome. However, in some instances, the history and associated signs do suggest this rare neurologic condition. The following is a report of a recently encountered instance of this disorder along with an analysis of 11 previously reported cases.^5-15 There