Metastatic urothelial carcinoma to pericardia manifested by dyspnea from cardiac tamponade during systemic chemotherapy: Case report and literature review

A 53-year-old man presented for further evaluation due to microscopic hematuria and left lumbar pain. Computed tomography revealed a large tumour in the left renal pelvis with multiple metastases. Despite effective systemic chemotherapy, he developed dyspnea, and was diagnosed with cardiac tamponade. Pericardial involvement in an advanced malignancy is common, but symptomatic cardiac metastasis from urothelial carcinoma is rare. Of the reports of symptomatic cardiac metastasis from urothelial carcinoma, only 3 cases presented as cardiac tamponade. We report here a rare case of cardiac tamponade caused by a renal pelvic carcinoma with positive cytodiagnosis of pericardial effusion. We also summarize and discuss the symptoms, treatment, and prognosis of the pathological condition, and present a brief review of previously published reports.