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Cardiac tumors MRI

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-In-Chief: Cafer Zorkun, M.D., Ph.D. [2], Dheeraj Makkar, M.D.[3]

Overview

Overview

Cardiac MRI is regarded as the gold standard after echocardiograph for evaluating a suspected cardiac tumor due to its unique ability to provide non-invasive tissue characterization in conjunction with excellent temporal resolution and absence of exposure to ionizing radiation.

MRI

MRI

  • Cardiac MRI scan may be further used to investigate the cardiac tumors after initial diagnostic testing with an echocardiograph.
  • Findings on MRI suggestive of/diagnostic of different cardiac cancers include:
Cardiac Tumors MRI Findings
Tumor MRI Finding
Myxoma * Oval mobile left atrial lesion
Rhabdomyoma * Multiple masses isointense to muscle tissue on T1 images
  • Hyperintense on T2 images[1]
Cardiac Fibroma * Solitary mass
  • Low intensity on T2 weighted image[1]
Fibroelastoma * T1 and T2 weighted images show uniform intermediate signal intensity similar to myocardium
  • Homogeneous late gadolinium contrast enhancement[1]
Hemangioma * Intermediate density on T1 images
Cardiac Lipoma * Epicardial or intramural lesion
  • High intensity on T1 weighted image
  • Drop out on fat saturation images[1]
Paraganglioma * Well defined lesion arising from atrial walls or septum
  • Bright on T2 weighted imaging[1]
Atrioventricular Node Tumor * Hypointense cardiac mass on standard imaging
  • Hyperintensity on late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) images with heterogeneous contrast enhancement
Fibrosarcoma * Heterogenous or isointense to myocardium on T1 weighted images[1]
Angiosarcoma * Arterial phase enhancement[1]
Rhabdomyosarcoma * Intermediate-to-hypointensity compared with muscle on T1 images
  • Hyperintense on T2-weighted imaging with heterogeneous contrast enhancement[1]
MRI: Cardiac myxoma


References

References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Luna A, Ribes R, Caro P, Vida J, Erasmus JJ (2005). “Evaluation of cardiac tumors with magnetic resonance imaging”. Eur Radiol. 15 (7): 1446–55. doi:10.1007/s00330-004-2603-y. PMID 15627179.

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