Project description:A 60-year-old man was about to undergo minimally invasive aortic valve replacement when transesophageal echocardiography revealed an intracardiac mass on the left atrial free wall. Multimodal images from 5 months earlier had shown no mass. We converted the procedure to open surgery. The excised mass resembled a cardiac myxoma but was determined to be a papillary fibroelastoma. This case illustrates that papillary fibroelastomas can form and grow rapidly, warranting alertness for their unexpected discovery before and during cardiac surgical procedures.
Project description:BackgroundLeft atrial (LA) late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging is indicative of fibrosis, and has been correlated with reduced LA function, increased LA volume, and poor procedural outcomes in cohorts with atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the role of LGE as a prognostic biomarker for arrhythmia in cardiac disease has not been examined.MethodsIn this study, we assessed LA LGE using a 3D LGE CMR sequence to examine its relationships with new onset atrial arrhythmia, and LA and left ventricular (LV) mechanical function.ResultsLA LGE images were acquired in 111 patients undergoing CMR imaging, including 66 patients with no prior history of an atrial arrhythmia. During the median follow-up of 2.7 years (interquartile range (IQR) 1.8-3.7 years), 15/66 (23%) of patients developed a new atrial arrhythmia. LA LGE ≥10% of LA myocardial volume was significantly associated with an increased rate of new-onset atrial arrhythmia, with a hazard ratio of 3.16 (95% CI 1.14-8.72), p = 0.026. There were significant relationships between LA LGE and both LA ejection fraction (r = - 0.39, p < 0.0005) and echocardiographic LV septal e' (r = - 0.24, p = 0.04) and septal E/e' (r = 0.31, p = 0.007).ConclusionsElevated LA LGE is associated with reduced LA function and reduced LV diastolic function. LA LGE is associated with new onset atrial arrhythmia during follow-up.
Project description:IntroductionLate gadolinium enhancement (LGE) cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to detect postablation atrial scar (PAAS) but its reproducibility and reliability in clinical scans across different magnetic flux densities and scar detection methods are unknown.MethodsPatients (n = 45) having undergone two consecutive MRIs (3 months apart) on 3T and 1.5T scanners were studied. We compared PAAS detection reproducibility using four methods of thresholding: simple thresholding, Otsu thresholding, 3.3 standard deviations (SD) above blood pool (BP) mean intensity, and image intensity ratio (IIR). We performed a texture study by dividing the left atrial wall intensity histogram into deciles and evaluated the correlation of the same decile of the two scans as well as to a randomized distribution of intensities, quantified using Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC).ResultsThe choice of scanner did not significantly affect the reproducibility. The scar detection performed by Otsu thresholding (DSC of 71.26 ± 8.34) resulted in a better correlation of the two scans compared with the methods of 3.3 SD above BP mean intensity (DSC of 57.78 ± 21.2, p < .001) and IIR above 1.61 (DSC of 45.76 ± 29.55, p <.001). Texture analysis showed that correlation only for voxels with intensities in deciles above the 70th percentile of wall intensity histogram was better than random distribution (p < .001).ConclusionsOur results demonstrate that clinical LGE-MRI can be reliably used for visualizing PAAS across different magnetic flux densities if the threshold is greater than 70th percentile of the wall intensity distribution. Also, atrial wall-based thresholding is better than BP-based thresholding for reproducible PAAS detection.
Project description:Papillary fibroelastomas are benign cardiac tumors with high embolic potential typically found on the valvular surfaces of the heart. Nonvalvular papillary fibroelastomas are exceedingly rare. We report the case of a 66-year-old Caucasian male with acute bilateral basal ganglia infarctions found to have a mass adherent to the left ventricular septum by transesophageal echocardiography. The mass was identified as a rare nonvalvular cardiac papillary fibroelastoma based on echogenicity, pedunculated nature, and typical motion. Tissue characterization by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated homogeneously hypo-intense signal on T2 weighted imaging and signal hyperintensity after administration of gadolinium contrast, confirming the fibroelastic nature of the mass. Surgical excision was performed via ventriculotomy and histopathologic examination was pathognomonic of a papillary fibroelastoma. We conclude that transesophageal echocardiography provides high diagnostic certainty in patients with cardiac papillary fibroelastomas and can reliably identify atypical locations of these tumors on nonvalvular surfaces. A multimodality imaging approach is not necessarily indicated in all patients with this condition.Learning objectivePapillary fibroelastomas are benign cardiac tumors with high embolic potential typically found on the valvular surfaces of the heart. Nonvalvular papillary fibroelastomas are exceedingly rare. Transesophageal echocardiography readily identifies nonvalvular papillary fibroelastomas based on echogenicity, pedunculated nature, and characteristic motion, and reliably differentiates them from other cardiac masses. A multimodality imaging approach is not indicated in all patients with this condition.
Project description:In patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), extensive atrial tissue fibrosis identified by delayed enhancement magnetic resonance imaging has been associated with early recurrence of AF after catheter ablation. We present a case of a patient with extensive atrial fibrosis and AF recurrence.The study of late gadolinium enhancement with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in patients with AF could be a valuable noninvasive tool for the selection of patients suitable for successful catheter ablation.
Project description:Papillary fibroelastoma (PFE) is a rare, slow-growing cardiac tumor. We encountered an 80-year-old man with PFE accidentally revealed by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) to evaluate cardiac function before a non-cardiac operation. A 10-mm mass lesion adhered to the anterior papillary muscle of the left ventricle, which had not been detected with TTE performed nine months before. Emergency cardiac surgery to remove the mass was performed, and the mass was diagnosed as a PFE. The PFE grew to 10 mm in a maximum of 9 months; to our knowledge, this is the fastest growth of PFE in the left ventricle reported to date. Learning objective Papillary fibroelastoma (PFE) is a rare, slow-growing cardiac tumor. The surgical indication of PFE is sometimes controversial. The rapid growth of PFE might be considered as a criterion for surgery because this might result in the rapid progression of symptoms and complications.
Project description:This is a proof-of-principle study investigating the feasibility of using late gadolinium enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (LGE-MRI) to detect left atrium (LA) radiation damage.LGE-MRI data were acquired for 7 patients with previous external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) histories. The enhancement in LA scar was delineated and fused to the computed tomography images used in dose calculation for radiation therapy. Dosimetric and normal tissue complication probability analyses were performed to investigate the relationship between LA scar enhancement and radiation doses.The average LA scar volume for the subjects was 2.5 cm3 (range, 1.2-4.1 cm3; median, 2.6 cm3). The overall average of the mean dose to the LA scar was 25.9 Gy (range, 5.8-49.2 Gy). Linear relationships were found between the amount of radiation dose (mean dose) (R2 = 0.8514, P = .03) to the LA scar-enhanced volume. The ratio of the cardiac tissue change (LA scar/LA wall) also demonstrated a linear relationship with the level of radiation received by the cardiac tissue (R2 = 0.9787, P < .01). Last, the normal tissue complication probability analysis suggested a dose response function to the LA scar enhancement.With LGE-MRI and 3-dimensional dose mapping on the treatment planning system, it is possible to define subclinical cardiac damage and distinguish intrinsic cardiac tissue change from radiation induced cardiac tissue damage. Imaging myocardial injury secondary to EBRT using MRI may be a useful modality to follow cardiac toxicity from EBRT and help identify individuals who are more susceptible to EBRT damage. LGE-MRI may provide essential information to identify early screening strategy for affected cancer survivors after EBRT treatment.