Sumit Mittle | PubMed Health

PubMed2005

Right-sided Myxomas.

Primary tumors of the heart are rare with an incidence of 0.0017% to 0.19% in unselected patients at autopsy. Of those tumors, cardiac myxomas are the most commonly seen and account for about 50% of primary cardiac tumors. About 75% to 85% of myxomas originate in the left atrium, 15% to 20% in the right atrium, and only rare cases have been reported of myxomas originating in the left and right ventricles (5%). We present 3 cases in which right-sided myxomas were diagnosed echocardiographically and review the literature on primary cardiac myxomas.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Role of contrast echocardiography in the assessment of myocardial rupture.

Left ventricular free wall rupture is known to complicate acute myocardial infarction and is the second most common cause of inhospital mortality in this patient population. Contrary to widely held medical belief, this does not always result in immediate fatal pericardial tamponade with hemodynamic collapse. Up to 40% of such occurrences are subacute and may evolve over hours or even days. A high index of suspicion and accurate diagnostic tests are required to identify and treat these patients with emergent surgery. Echocardiography has emerged as an important diagnostic modality to identify this catastrophic condition. Although the literature has scattered reports on the role of transesophageal and transthoracic echocardiography in diagnosing free wall rupture, to date, only one report in the literature used ultrasound contrast agents to better delineate echocardiographic findings. We will present two cases in which echocardiography with use of intravenous ultrasound contrast agents was instrumental in helping to exclude rupture in one case and help identify rupture in another.

Aged↗