Clinical diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in the diagnosis of cardiac masses: A pilot study

The usefulness of contrast echocardiography in the evaluation of cardiac masses: a multicenter study

BACKGROUND

Cardiac masses can encompass a variety of conditions, such as tumors, thrombi, vegetations, calcific lesions, and other rare diseases. Treatment and management of these types of cardiac masses differ considerably. Thus, accurately distinguishing among thrombi, benign tumors, and malignant tumors in the heart is of great importance. Contrast echocardiography (CE) has emerged as a promising technology. Although published guidelines suggest that CE can enhance image quality and assist in differentiating between benign and malignant lesions, most studies on CE diagnosis of cardiac masses are limited to case reports or retrospective/small-sample-sized prospective cohorts. This study aims to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of CE in patients with suspected cardiac masses and address the insufficient evidence for differential diagnosis using CE.

METHODS

Between April 2018 and July 2022, a prospective multicenter study was conducted, which included 145 consecutive patients suspected to have cardiac masses based on transthoracic echocardiography. All patients underwent CE examinations. The echocardiographic diagnosis relied on qualitative factors such as echogenicity, boundary, morphology of the base, mass perfusion, pericardial effusion, and motility as well as quantitative factors such as the area of the masses and the peak intensity ratio of the masses to adjacent myocardium (A1/A2).

RESULTS

The final confirmed diagnoses were as follows: 2 patients had no cardiac mass, 4 patients had pseudomass, 43 patients had thrombus, 66 patients had benign tumors, and 30 patients had malignant tumors. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis indicated that an optimal A1/A2 cutoff value of 0.499 distinguished a cardiac tumor from a thrombus, with AUC, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of 0.977, 97.9%, 90.7%, 95.9%, and 95.1%, respectively. The optimal A1/A2 cutoff value of 1.583 distinguished a cardiac tumor from a thrombus, with AUC, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of 0.950, 93.3%, 93.9%, 87.5%, and 96.9%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Combined with qualitative and quantitative analyses, CE has the potential to accurately differentiate among different types of cardiac masses.

Contrast-enhanced echocardiographic diagnosis of benign and malignant cardiac tumors and its correlation with pathology

Background

This study aimed to explore the diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced echocardiography (CEE) in benign and malignant cardiac tumors and detect the correlation of CEE parameters and immunohistochemistry (IHC) markers.

Methods

The data of 44 patients with cardiac tumors confirmed by pathology were reviewed. Lesions were examined before surgery using transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and CEE with time-intensity curve analysis. The expression of CD31, VEGF and Ki67 was measured by IHC staining. Microvessel density (MVD) was quantified via IHC for CD31. The clinical variables, TTE, CEE and IHC parameters were compared between benign and malignant cardiac tumors. Receiver operating characteristic curve were used to analyze the value of factors in predicting malignant cardiac tumors. The correlation between CEE and IHC parameters was analyzed.

Results

Among 44 cardiac tumors, 34 were benign and 10 were malignant. There were significant differences in the TTE parameters (pericardial effusion, tumor boundary, diameter, basal width), CEE parameters (tumor peak intensity (TPI), peak intensity ratio of tumor to myocardium (TPI/MPI), area under time-intensity curve (AUTIC)) and IHC parameters (Ki67, MVD, CD31, VEGF) between the benign and malignant tumor groups (all P < 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the CEE and IHC parameters had diagnostic value in malignant cardiac tumors. There was a correlation between TPI/MPI and Ki67 (r = 0.62), AUTIC and Ki67 (r = 0.50), and AUTIC and CD31 (r = 0.56).

Conclusion

TTE and CEE parameters were different between benign and malignant cardiac tumors. CEE is helpful to differentiate the properties of cardiac tumors. There is a correlation between CEE parameters and IHC markers. AUTIC and TPI/MPI can reflect the proliferation and invasion of tumors.

The diagnostic accuracy of contrast echocardiography in patients with suspected cardiac masses: A preliminary multicenter, cross-sectional study

Background

To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of contrast echocardiography (CE) in patients with suspected cardiac masses.

Methods

A multicenter, prospective study involving 108 consecutive patients with suspected cardiac masses based on transthoracic echocardiography performed between November 2019 and December 2020 was carried out. CE examinations were performed in all patients. The echocardiographic diagnosis was established according to the qualitative (echogenicity, boundary, morphology of the base, mass perfusion, pericardial effusion, and motility) and quantitative (area of the masses and peak intensity ratio of the masses and adjacent myocardium A1/A2) evaluations.

Results

Final confirmed diagnoses were as follows: no cardiac mass (n = 3), pseudomass (n = 3), thrombus (n = 36), benign tumor (n = 30), and malignant tumor (n = 36). ROC analysis revealed the optimal A1/A2 with cutoff value of 0.295 for a cardiac tumor from a thrombus, with AUC, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of 0.958 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.899–0.988), 100, 91.7, 95.7, and 100%, respectively. CE was able to distinguish malignant from benign tumors with an AUC of 0.953 (95% CI: 0.870–0.990). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that tumor area, base, and A1/A2 were associated with the risk of malignant tumor (OR = 1.003, 95% CI: 1.00003–1.005; OR = 22.64, 95% CI: 1.30–395.21; OR = 165.39, 95% CI: 4.68–5,850.94, respectively). When using A1/A2 > 1.28 as the only diagnostic criterion to identify the malignant tumor, AUC, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 0.886 (95% CI: 0.784–0.951), 80.6, 96.7, 96.7, and 80.7%, respectively.

Conclusion

CE has the potential to accurately differentiate cardiac masses by combining qualitative and quantitative analyses. However, more studies with a large sample size should be conducted to further confirm these findings.

Clinical trial registration

http://www.chictr.org.cn/, identifier: ChiCTR1900026809.

Diagnosis of cardiac occupancy as metachronous carcinoma using multimodal imaging: a case report

Background

Metachronous carcinoma presenting as a cardiac malignancy is rare, and timely diagnosis is critical. We report a patient with a primary cardiac tumor who eventually died and performed an imaging-related literature review.

Case presentation

A 68-year-old Chinese male patient, who had suffered from multiple malignancies, was suddenly found to have severely reduced platelets and symptoms of decreased cardiac function. After undergoing a series of imaging examinations such as transthoracic echocardiography and positron emission tomography-computed tomography, he was found to have a large occupancy within the right heart and was finally diagnosed with a primary cardiac malignancy. Combined with the patient's previous medical history, it was judged that this time it was a metachronous carcinoma. The patient was unable to accept the risk of surgery and eventually died.

Conclusion

This is a case report reporting a cardiac malignancy. This case highlights the importance of using multiple imaging modalities to make a common diagnosis and the need for more detailed evaluation in patients with metachronous carcinoma.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12872-022-02645-2.

Multimodal Diagnostic Workup of Primary Pericardial Mesothelioma: A Case Report

Background: Primary pericardial mesothelioma is an extremely rare tumor, and early identification and accurate diagnosis may improve its clinical outcome.

Case presentation: In this study, we reported a case of a 70-year-old woman who presented with dyspnea. Conventional transthoracic echocardiography showed massive pericardial effusion. Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography revealed a hyper-enhancing mass in the pericardium. Further imaging methods, including cardiac MRI and positron emission tomography/computed tomography, showed invasion of the pericardial mass into the adjacent tissues and distant metastases. Pathologic examination of a puncture biopsy specimen finally confirmed the diagnosis of PPM.

Conclusion: Pericardial masses are difficult to detect when a large amount of pericardial effusion is present and the mass is small. The combination of multiple modalities plays a meaningful role in identifying PPM.

Cardiac thrombotic stability determined by contrast-enhanced echocardiography: investigative protocol and preliminary results

Objective

This study’s intent was to test a new system for scoring cardiac thrombotic stability, based on contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS).

Methods

We used human whole blood for an in vitro thrombotic model involving 1-h (T_1h) and 7-day (T_7d) subsets. The T_1h group was monitored for 1 h continuously to observe for the formation of a new thrombus on the original thrombus base. Changes in thrombotic CEUS images, histologic features, and shear wave elastography were recorded over time. We also studied 28 patients diagnosed with cardiac thrombi, each examined by transthoracic echocardiography and CEUS.Thrombi were scored for substrate (T_s) and hardness (T_h) based on the visualized degree of contrast penetration into the thrombi. Statistical analyses of T_s and T_h reflected thrombolytic time and risk of embolism to other organs.

Results

Histologically, the loosely constructed ends of in vitro thrombi solidified over time. In addition, the average Young’s modulus of thrombi over time indicated a progressive increase in hardness. Contrast-enhancing agents were able to penetrate fresh, loose thrombi only, not chronic, stable thrombi. As T_s and T_h increased, prolonged thrombolytic time and greater risk of embolism to other organs were apparent.

Conclusions

Our data suggest that this new CEUS scoring system correlates well with cardiac thrombotic hardness and the quality of its underlying substrate, serving to quantify thrombotic stability.

Interventricular septum mass presenting as a late acute coronary syndrome with ST-segment elevation: a case report

Background

Intracardiac masses are relatively rare but the diagnosis can be challenging for the cardiologist and the clinical presentation can be misleading. While most of the cardiac masses are benign, malignant masses are mostly metastatic tumours.

Case summary

An 81-year-old man was admitted to the cardiology department for congestive heart failure with the complaint of recent dyspnoea. The initial electrocardiogram was suggestive of a late presentation of an anterior myocardial infarction. Blood test showed mild and stable elevation of troponin and brain natriuretic peptide. Doppler-echocardiography revealed an interventricular septal thickening. Contrast echocardiography revealed a mass with a possibly necrotic centre and peripheral hypervascularization. Cardiac computed tomography (CT) confirmed the existence of a cardiac tumour with a hypodense centre and also revealed the presence of a large tumour of the lung’s left lower lobe with multiple enlarged lymph nodes associated with possible left adrenal gland metastasis. Computed tomography-guided percutaneous biopsy of the pulmonary mass demonstrated a squamous cell lung cancer which was likely the primary cancer. The patient was discharged home waiting for chemotherapy to start but died a few days later at home of an unknown cause.

Discussion

Diagnosis of intracardiac mass is difficult, often requiring multiple imaging modalities. Contrast-enhanced echocardiography may help early diagnosis and can be easily implemented with other imaging modalities such as cardiac magnetic resonance imaging or CT.

Diagnosis of a primary pericardial mesothelioma by the combination of conventional echocardiography and contrast echocardiography

Primary malignancies arising from the pericardium are rare, even more unusual for primary pericardial mesothelioma. The diagnosis is difficult and has no standard treatment. We herein present a case of a 65-year-old woman with primary pericardial mesothelioma associated with dyspnoea and palpitations. Transthoracic conventional echocardiography revealed mild pericardial effusion and a hypo-echogenic mass in the pericardium. Contrast echocardiography showed that the mass was hyper-enhanced with a radial enhancement pattern. The patient underwent open chest exploration and was diagnosed by pathological examination. She had no further treatment and died 2 years later. In conclusion, the combination of conventional echocardiography and contrast echocardiography plays a significant role in diagnosing primary pericardial mesothelioma. Comprehensive evaluation and accurately preoperative diagnosis are important to exclude certain tumours that do not require surgery.

Cardiac Masses: The Role of Cardiovascular Imaging in the Differential Diagnosis

Cardiac masses are space occupying lesions within the cardiac cavities or adjacent to the pericardium. They include frequently diagnosed clinical entities such as clots and vegetations, common benign tumors such as myxomas and papillary fibroelastomas and uncommon benign or malignant primary or metastatic tumors. Given their diversity, there are no guidelines or consensus statements regarding the best diagnostic or therapeutic approach. In the past, diagnosis used to be made by the histological specimens after surgery or during the post-mortem examination. Nevertheless, evolution and increased availability of cardiovascular imaging modalities has enabled better characterization of the masses and the surrounding tissue. Transthoracic echocardiography using contrast agents can evaluate the location, the morphology and the perfusion of the mass as well as its hemodynamic effect. Transesophageal echocardiography has increased spatial and temporal resolution; hence it is superior in depicting small highly mobile masses. Cardiac magnetic resonance and cardiac computed tomography are complementary providing tissue characterization. The scope of this review is to present the role of cardiovascular imaging in the differential diagnosis of cardiac masses and to propose a step-wise diagnostic algorithm, taking into account the epidemiology and clinical presentation of the cardiac masses, as well as the availability and the incremental value of each imaging modality.

[Myocardial perfusion assessment with contrast echocardiography, a promising old technique?]

Myocardial perfusion assessment with contrast echocardiography has been studied for more than 25 years. It is a feasible and safe technique. Rather it has an additional value in pharmacologic stress test remains unclear. However, with adequate settings (using both low and very low mechanical index), perfusion analysis can be very useful for the diagnosis of apical thrombus or tumor, viability assessment, and acute coronary syndrome with non-informative ECG.