RT Book, Section
A1 Coddens, Jose
A2 Mathew, Joseph P.
A2 Swaminathan, Madhav
A2 Ayoub, Chakib M.
SR Print(0)
ID 6919566
T1 Chapter 19. Cardiac Masses
T2 Clinical Manual and Review of Transesophageal Echocardiography, 2e
YR 2010
FD 2010
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-163476-2
LK accessanesthesiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=6919566
RD 2024/04/19
AB Echocardiography  is  a  powerful  tool  in  the  differential  diagnosis  of  cardiac  masses.  Although  echocardiography  cannot  replace  pathologic  examination  in  obtaining  an  exact  diagnosis,  characteristic  features  of  the  ultrasound  images  can  help  to  differentiate  these  masses.  Combining  clinical  data  such  as  sex,  age,  signs  of  an  extracardiac  primary  tumor,  and  response  to  therapy  (anticoagulation  or  antibiotics)  with  morphologic  properties,  such  as  location,  attachment  site,  size,  mobility,  texture,  and  number  of  tumors,  often  produces  an  accurate  diagnosis.  A  correct  diagnosis  is  crucial  in  therapeutic  decision  making,  but  because  pathology  specimens  usually  are  obtained  only  during  surgical  resection,  it  is  important  to  recognize  the  typical  indirect  and  direct  echocardiographic  features  of  the  various  tumors.  Echocardiography  is  the  technique  of  choice;  further,  because  of  its  close  proximity  to  the  heart,  transesophageal  echocardiography  (TEE)  in  general  is  superior  to  transthoracic  echocardiography  (TTE).