n 1951, the feeling of frustration regarding the inadequacy f the antemortem diagnosis of cardiac masses was summaized by Pritchard (1) in a review of tumors of the heart: Tumors of the heart are rarely diagnosed before autopsy. urgical treatment of these neoplasms is virtually unheard f, and the present state of diagnosis is far behind the herapeutic possibilities. Several authors have wholehe...

Background Primary cardiac masses are rare and usually benign. Myxomas are usually seen in adults, accounting for 25%-40% of all cardiac tumors from birth to adolescence. The majority of myxomas (75%) are located in the left atrium. Right ventricular myxomas are very rare, only found in 2%-4% of cases. The most important distinguishing feature of a myxoma is the characteristic narrow stalk and ...

Primary cardiac tumors are infrequent and usually benign. They can manifest as dyspnea, chest pain, palpitations, sudden death, peripheral embolism, cyanosis, or general symptoms. They are sometimes an incidental finding in an asymptomatic patient. We describe a 33-year-old man who was seen because of dyspnea and palpitations. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed, on the lateral wall of the ...

This is a report of a biatrial cardiac myxoma in a young man with a 10-month history of exertional dyspnea and palpitation. The echocardiogram revealed biatrial myxoma prolapsing through the mitral and tricuspid valves during diastole. All cardiac chambers were enlarged and dysfunctional. The electrocardiogram revealed a rapid ventricular response with atrial flutter rhythm. The masses were res...

A wide spectrum of masses can affect the heart, ranging from non-malignant entities, such as thrombi, to aggressive primary cardiac tumors, such as angiosarcomas. Echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging have traditionally formed the mainstay techniques for assessing these lesions. Recent technological advances have seen ECG-gated multi-detector computed tomography (M...

The ability of MDCT to obtain a three-dimensional volumetric dataset of the entire heart and adjacent structures that can be reconstructed at any point in the cardiac cycle makes it a powerful tool for the assessment of cardiac structures. This review will focus on the evolving niche applications of MDCT in the assessment of non-coronary structures, including the evaluation of the left ventricl...

valvular heart disease is a considerable finding in the antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (aps). the involvement of the mitral and aortic valves is more common in the form of leaflet thickening or aseptic verrucous vegetations called the libman-sacks endocarditis. in addition to the detrimental effects of endocarditis on the valves, it can lead to serious thromboembolic complications. here we ...