Carcinoid heart disease – still a challenging diagnosis?

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are rare neoplasms that can occur anywhere in the body. Mostly, they are located in the gastrointestinal tract or lungs. A third of subjects with NETs present carcinoid syndrome (CS) features. Carcinoid heart disease (CaHD) or Hedinger syndrome is a frequent manifestatio...

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Main Authors: Benchea Laura Cătălina, Anghel Larisa, Sascău Radu Andy, Stătescu Cristian
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2025-06-01
Series:Romanian Journal of Cardiology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2478/rjc-2025-0013
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author Benchea Laura Cătălina
Anghel Larisa
Sascău Radu Andy
Stătescu Cristian
author_facet Benchea Laura Cătălina
Anghel Larisa
Sascău Radu Andy
Stătescu Cristian
author_sort Benchea Laura Cătălina
collection DOAJ
description Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are rare neoplasms that can occur anywhere in the body. Mostly, they are located in the gastrointestinal tract or lungs. A third of subjects with NETs present carcinoid syndrome (CS) features. Carcinoid heart disease (CaHD) or Hedinger syndrome is a frequent manifestation occurring in patients with carcinoid syndrome. Most commonly, it involves the tricuspid and pulmonary valves and represents an independent adverse prognostic factor. We report the case of a 53-year-old woman who presented with increasing dyspnea and fatigue. Her past medical history was remarkable for small intestine neuroendocrine tumors. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed enlarged right cavities with medioventricular trabeculation but normal right ventricle systolic function and severe tricuspid and pulmonic regurgitation. Carcinoid heart disease was confirmed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Management of this patient included somatostatin analogs and heart failure treatment according to current guidelines. We also discuss the indication for surgical treatment. At a three month follow-up, the patient was asymptomatic but needed close imaging supervision.
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publishDate 2025-06-01
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series Romanian Journal of Cardiology
spelling doaj-art-d01d2f01ecd34bc299c35959ee6827d62025-08-20T03:11:37ZengSciendoRomanian Journal of Cardiology2734-63822025-06-0135213213610.2478/rjc-2025-0013Carcinoid heart disease – still a challenging diagnosis?Benchea Laura Cătălina0Anghel Larisa1Sascău Radu Andy2Stătescu Cristian31Cardiovascular Diseases Institute „Prof. Dr. George I. M. Georgescu”, Iaşi, România Discipline of Cardiology1Cardiovascular Diseases Institute „Prof. Dr. George I. M. Georgescu”, Iaşi, România Discipline of Cardiology1Cardiovascular Diseases Institute „Prof. Dr. George I. M. Georgescu”, Iaşi, România Discipline of Cardiology1Cardiovascular Diseases Institute „Prof. Dr. George I. M. Georgescu”, Iaşi, România Discipline of CardiologyNeuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are rare neoplasms that can occur anywhere in the body. Mostly, they are located in the gastrointestinal tract or lungs. A third of subjects with NETs present carcinoid syndrome (CS) features. Carcinoid heart disease (CaHD) or Hedinger syndrome is a frequent manifestation occurring in patients with carcinoid syndrome. Most commonly, it involves the tricuspid and pulmonary valves and represents an independent adverse prognostic factor. We report the case of a 53-year-old woman who presented with increasing dyspnea and fatigue. Her past medical history was remarkable for small intestine neuroendocrine tumors. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed enlarged right cavities with medioventricular trabeculation but normal right ventricle systolic function and severe tricuspid and pulmonic regurgitation. Carcinoid heart disease was confirmed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Management of this patient included somatostatin analogs and heart failure treatment according to current guidelines. We also discuss the indication for surgical treatment. At a three month follow-up, the patient was asymptomatic but needed close imaging supervision.https://doi.org/10.2478/rjc-2025-0013carcinoid tumorscarcinoid syndromeheartcardiac imagingtumorile carcinoidesindromul carcinoidinimaimagistica cardiacă
spellingShingle Benchea Laura Cătălina
Anghel Larisa
Sascău Radu Andy
Stătescu Cristian
Carcinoid heart disease – still a challenging diagnosis?
Romanian Journal of Cardiology
carcinoid tumors
carcinoid syndrome
heart
cardiac imaging
tumorile carcinoide
sindromul carcinoid
inima
imagistica cardiacă
title Carcinoid heart disease – still a challenging diagnosis?
title_full Carcinoid heart disease – still a challenging diagnosis?
title_fullStr Carcinoid heart disease – still a challenging diagnosis?
title_full_unstemmed Carcinoid heart disease – still a challenging diagnosis?
title_short Carcinoid heart disease – still a challenging diagnosis?
title_sort carcinoid heart disease still a challenging diagnosis
topic carcinoid tumors
carcinoid syndrome
heart
cardiac imaging
tumorile carcinoide
sindromul carcinoid
inima
imagistica cardiacă
url https://doi.org/10.2478/rjc-2025-0013
work_keys_str_mv AT benchealauracatalina carcinoidheartdiseasestillachallengingdiagnosis
AT anghellarisa carcinoidheartdiseasestillachallengingdiagnosis
AT sascauraduandy carcinoidheartdiseasestillachallengingdiagnosis
AT statescucristian carcinoidheartdiseasestillachallengingdiagnosis