title: Left atrial myxoma on FDG-PET/CT.
abstract: A 56-year-old woman with rheumatoid factor-positive rheumatoid arthritis underwent FDG-PET/CT because of fatigue, fever, coughing, and weight loss for several months. FDG-PET/CT solely revealed a mildly hypermetabolic hypodense area in the left atrium. Subsequently, transthoracic echocardiography and contrast-enhanced MRI showed a left atrial pedunculated soft tissue mass suggestive for myxoma, with histological confirmation. Myocardial involvement by tumors is rare, and FDG-PET/CT has been very useful for identifying cardiac metastases. However, very few cases have been reported using FDG-PET/CT for detecting primary cardiac tumors, but as shown here, abnormal focal myocardial uptake should trigger further morphological assessment.
authors.affiliation: From the Departments of *Nuclear Medicine, †Rheumatology, ‡Cardiology, and §Radiology, University Hospital Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gheysens
authors.forename: Jasmien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cornillie
authors.forename: Jens-Uwe
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Voigt
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bogaert
authors.forename: Rene
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Westhovens
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009232:Myxoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18