Cardiac masses, part 1: imaging strategies and technical considerations.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this article is to discuss optimal imaging strategies for the evaluation of cardiac masses. The advantages and disadvantages of echocardiography, cardiac MRI, gated cardiac CT, and nuclear imaging will be discussed and specific techniques presented.


CONCLUSIONS
Multimodality imaging plays a pivotal role in the diagnosis and surgical planning of cardiac masses. Clinical features, such as patient age, location, and imaging characteristics of the mass will determine the likely differential diagnosis.
Department of Radiology, Division of Thoracic Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. orlabucko@gmail.com
Orla
O
Buckley
Rachna
R
Madan
Raymond
R
Kwong
Frank J
FJ
Rybicki
Andetta
A
Hunsaker
D003287:Contrast Media; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals
D003287:Contrast Media; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals