Author(s)

Bartolomucci Francesco, Giuseppe Nasso, Cipriani Francesco, Esposito Gianpiero, Valenti Giovanni, Giuseppe Speziale

Division of Cardiac Surgery, Anthea Hospital, GVM Care & Research, Bari, Italy.
Division of Cardiac Surgery, Santa Maria Hospital, Bari, Italy.
Division of Cardiology, L. Bonomo Hospital, Andria, Italy.

Aims: Secondary cardiac tumours are rare conditions, often difficult to suspect. We aim to describe the diagnostic potential of transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography in this field, and to discuss their reliability as modalities of choice for preoperative diagnosis. Methods and Results: We used several complementary diagnostic approaches: Color-Doppler transthoracic echocardiography, transesophageal echocardiography, regional myocardial perfusion test and three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography. The latter was employed to confirm the previously performed tests. All tests revealed the presence of an echogenic, oval-shaped and well-delimited mass in the basal part of intervenetricular septum. Conclusion: Even though it was initially asymptomatic and characterized by scarce clinical manifestations, the intra-cardiac mass was reliably identified in this patient by means of the cited diagnostic modalities, which also allowed adequate surgical planning. The immunohistochemical examination revealed the secondary nature of this tumour. Basic and advanced echocardiography examinations were crucial in the decision-making process.

Echocardiography; GIST; Cardiac Tumours; Three-Dimensional Echocardiography

B. Francesco, G. Nasso, C. Francesco, E. Gianpiero, V. Giovanni and G. Speziale, "Ultrasonographic Diagnosis of an Isolated Cardiac Metastasis in a Patient with High-Grade Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor," World Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery, Vol. 2 No. 2, 2012, pp. 21-23. doi: 10.4236/wjcs.2012.22007.