- Case Report
- Open access
- Published:
Use of microbubble contrast in the diagnosis of a left ventricular papillary fibroelastoma
Echo Research & Practice volume 2, pages K43–K45 (2015)
Abstract
A papillary fibroelastoma is a rare, avascular, cardiac tumour that is often found incidentally using transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). Peripheral i.v. injection of a microbubble contrast agent is often used to characterize abnormal masses within the heart allowing further delineation of physical features, the area of attachment, and vascularity of the mass in order to differentiate the growth from a tumour or a thrombus. This case highlights a potential pitfall when assessing a cardiac tumour’s vascularity using contrast TTE. A cardiac mass was identified on a TTE of a 53-year-old man and was further investigated with microbubble contrast-enhanced TTE. Contrast TTE imaging suggested a vascularized structure in the left ventricle. However, after histological examination the tumour was found to be entirely avascular.
References
Mariscalo G, Bruno VD, Borsani P, Dominici C, & Sala A 2010 Papillary fibroelastoma: insight to a primary cardiac valve tumor. Journal of Cardiac Surgery 25 198–205. (doi:10.1111/j.1540-8191.2009.00993.x)
Tamin S, Maleszewski J, Scott C, Khan S, William D, Bruce C, Jae K, Pellikka P, & Klarich K 2015 Prognostic and bioepidemiologic implications of papillary fibroelasomtas. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 65 2420–2429. (doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2015.03.569)
Mansencal N, Revault-d’Allonnes L, Pelage JP, Farcot JC, Lacombe P, & Dubourg O 2009 Usefulness of contrast echocardiography for assessment of intracardiac masses. Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases 102 177–183. (doi:10.1016/j.acvd.2008.12.007)
Bomley MJ, Cooke JC, Unger EC, Monaghan MJ, & Cogrove DO 2001 Microbubble contrast agents: a new era in ultrasound. British Medical Journal 322 1222–1225. (doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7296.1222)
Law KB, Phillips KR, Cusimano RJ, & Butany J 2009 Multifocal “tapete” papillary fibroelastoma. Journal of Clinical Pathology 62 1066–1070. (doi:10.1136/jcp.2009.070243)
Basoglu A, De Wolf A, Dendale P, Vanbockrijck H, & Vracnkx P 2006 Echocardiography remains the standard for the diagnostic evaluation of left ventricular tumors: a case report with anatomical correlation. European Journal of Echocardiography 8 401–403. (doi:10.1016/j.euje.2006.06.009)
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sector.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.
About this article
Cite this article
Duke, J., Greaves, K. & Dettrick, A. Use of microbubble contrast in the diagnosis of a left ventricular papillary fibroelastoma. Echo Res Pract 2, K43–K45 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1530/ERP-15-0033
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1530/ERP-15-0033