TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Chapter 19. Cardiac Masses A1 - Coddens, Jose A2 - Mathew, Joseph P. A2 - Swaminathan, Madhav A2 - Ayoub, Chakib M. PY - 2010 T2 - Clinical Manual and Review of Transesophageal Echocardiography, 2e 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). SN - PB - The McGraw-Hill Companies CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/04/20 UR - accessanesthesiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=6919566 ER -