CARCINOID HEART DISEASE

CARCINOID HEART DISEASE

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Carcinoid Heart Disease

Introduction

Carcinoid heart disease is a very rear disease that spreads from one organ or part of it to another organ or part of it. It is seen mainly in the inner most layer tissue that lines the chamber of the heart and the right valve of the heart.

Carcinoid heart disease occurs in almost half of those people with carcinoid syndrome. This syndrome is caused by carcinoid tumor. In a book by (Warren et al., 2003) the author says that carcinoid syndrome arises in approximately 10% of those with carcinoid tumors. According to (Mordin & Sandor 1997) this tumor is rare and it affects around 1.2 to 2.1 per hundred thousand people in a population per year. This tumor can arise in any part of the body.

Etiology

Carcinoid syndrome which causes carcinoid heart disease occurs as a result of carcinoid tumor. This tumor grows very slowly and can take up to twenty years or more to develop in to carcinoid syndrome. But with the help of cardiac pathology for carcinoid patients the clinical outcome has reduced. Based on the data of three year for patient's mortality with carcinoid disease it has been observed that the survival rate is 31%.However if the patient does not have heart problem then the chances of survival is almost double of that with heart problem. In a study conducted it was shown that the average survival rate of the patient decreases to 1.6 years as compared to 4.6 years for those patients who don't have heart disease. However, it can clearly be stated that with the treatment of heart problem not only the symptoms improve but the life of the patient also increases.

Diagnosis

This disease can be diagnosed by conducting a test in the urine level of 5 hydro xyindo eacetic. For a person who is discharging more than 25 mg of 5 HIAA we can be sure that this person is suffering form carcinoid syndrome. Other than this, the method Octreo scan can be done which has a tumor detection rate of 89% as compared to other techniques such as MRI scan or CT scan which has a detection rate of 80%. Octreotate performed on a PET/CT scanner is a better method then the traditional method of Octreoscan. Basically when using the CT scan method we will notice a crab/spider like structure to show changes but with PET/CT scanner we will estimate the increase in glucose level and check if it had increased the chance for carcinoid disease. 

Sign and symptoms

Carcinoid syndrome can also damage the heart. The sign and symptoms of this disease is that it causes low blood pressure, shortness of breath with little activity, tiredness and rapid heart beat. According to Rubin J, et al. (2003) Heart failure is another problem associated with carcinoid syndrome that causes swelling in feet and legs. This disease eventually leads to Carcinoid heart disease.

Risk Factors

The risk factors associated with this disease is that Due to the non-specificity of CHD symptoms, ...