Case Session 07: Cardiac Masses (2018)-A mass was found during echocardiography: can CMR help?

A mass was found during echocardiography: can CMR help?

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The talk argues that CMR adds major value when evaluating cardiac masses, especially when echocardiography cannot clearly distinguish true pathology from artifact or normal variants. CMR helps answer three key questions: is it real, what is it made of, and how extensive is it? It is especially useful for identifying fat, fluid, and thrombus, with strong tissue characterization and fat suppression. CMR is the gold standard for LV thrombus and can detect laminated thrombi that echo may miss. It also improves assessment of malignant masses by showing number of lesions, tissue invasion, involvement of valves or vessels, and implications for surgery. Several cases illustrated how CMR clarified confusing echo findings, detected additional lesions, and changed management. Overall, CMR and echocardiography are complementary, but CMR often provides the decisive answer.

Keywords

cardiac masses

CMR

echocardiography

LV thrombus

tissue characterization