Central Venous Catheter–Associated Right Atrial Thrombus

Approach to Cardiac Masses Using Multimodal Cardiac Imaging

Incidental cardiac masses can pose diagnostic challenges given the numerous differentials, and difficulty in obtaining tissue confirmation without invasive procedures. With recent advancements in cardiac imaging technology, non-invasive efforts to diagnose the intracardiac lesions have become more surmountable. In this paper, we report a case of a patient incidentally found to have an intra-cardiac mass during routine evaluation. Transthoracic echocardiography demonstrated a small mass attached to the tricuspid valve, which was not visualized on follow up cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Here, we review the currently available cardiac imaging modalities and discuss their values and limitations. From this, we also propose a workflow in the approach to utilizing different imaging modalities to reach a conclusive diagnosis of undifferentiated cardiac masses.

Imaging in Cardio-oncology: An Overview of an Emerging Medical Discipline

The world of cardio-oncology is an evolving field involving the assessment of cardiovascular disease in patients suffering from cancer. Cancer and cardiovascular diseases are the two leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the developed world. Globally, cancer is diagnosed in 12.7 million patients annually, and cancer incidence is projected to increase by 40% in high-income countries from 2008 to 2030. Chemotherapy is the main treatment for most cancers and improves survival, but is associated with significant cardiotoxicity. In recent years, the introduction of new biological anti-cancer treatments in addition to "classic" chemotherapy has further improved survival, but has also introduced new cardiovascular side effects beyond "pure" myocardial damage. The increasing number of patients with cancer and cancer survivors, and the growing complexity of cancer treatment and cardiovascular side effects, call for teamwork including cardiologists with specific training and expertise working in teams with oncologists, hematologists, and others. The purpose of this review was to describe the clinical background and importance of cardio-oncology, with an emphasis on the use of imaging in this clinical setting.

Cardiac Masses in Echocardiography: A Pragmatic Review

Transthoracic echocardiography is a useful diagnostic technique for the identification of intracardiac and extracardiac masses, which can evaluate morphologic properties of the masses such as their location, attachment, shape, size, mobility, and possible hemodynamic-related implications. Apart from physiological variants and structural normal mimickers, echocardiography can detect principal intracardiac masses such as neoplasms, thrombi, vegetation, and extracardiac masses such as metastatic lesions. Moreover, transesophageal echocardiography can provide further details and provide higher accuracy in case a deeper examination of the mass is needed. This review will focus on the systematic evaluation of intra-/extracardiac masses including epidemiology and morphological and echocardiographic features, providing practical and technical tips to health-care professionals to achieve correct identification of the masses. General data on cardiac masses were extracted via PubMed/MEDLINE search engine from indexed reviews, original studies, and clinical case reports. The echocardiographic features of cardiac masses were reviewed according to the most relevant international cardiology and echocardiography scientific societies' position statements.