A115

HEART - Metastatic melanoma

Description
The heart shows multiple secondary deposits of melanoma in the pericardium and a deposit is also present in the endocardium of the right auricle.
History
At the age of 24 years a lesion described as a blue naevus was excised from the left calf. Two months later a larger pigmented area in the same region was excised and this was described as a malignant melanoma. Within a few months there were enlarged lymph nodes in the groin and evidence of generalised metastases. The patient developed a leucoerythroblastic anaemia and melanoma cells were seen in the peripheral blood. He died some 5 years after the original lesion was removed.