Heart involvement in lymphomas. The value of magnetic resonance imaging and two-dimensional echocardiography at disease presentation.
METHODS
Thirty-six patients with mediastinal lymphoma were studied with chest magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and two-dimensional echocardiography at presentation to define the extent of the disease in the paracardiac area.


RESULTS
Involvement of cardiac structures was present in 23 of 36 patients (64%). Pericardial contiguity was detected in 23 of 23 patients (100%) by MRI and in 18 of 23 patients (78%) by echocardiography. Pericardial effusion, present in 17 patients (74%), and pericardial infiltration, present in 7 patients (30%), were detected by both techniques in 71% and 86%, respectively. Myocardial infiltration was identified in two of two patients (100%) by MRI and in one of two patients (50%) by two-dimensional echocardiography. Extrapericardial disease was identified in 100% of patients by MRI but only in 30% of patients by echocardiography.


CONCLUSIONS
Extracardiac and intracardiac involvement is a frequent event in mediastinal lymphomas and should be carefully evaluated with different imaging modalities, mainly MRI, for correct diagnosis and proper management.
Tesoro-Tess
J D
JD
Diagnostic Radiology E Division, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy.
Biasi
S
S
Balzarini
L
L
Ceglia
E
E
Matarazzo
C
C
Piotti
P
P
Musumeci
R
R
D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000175:diagnosis; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests