Intra-cardiac Masses and Devices

Intra-cardiac Masses and Devices

Cardiac Masses: A mass by any other name, is still a mass. Or is it?

You may remember from high school physics that mass is simply a quantity of matter. Under the right set of circumstances, it can even be converted into a predictable amount of energy. But that’s not what we are talking about here. Cardiac masses come in a variety of shapes, sizes, locations, consistencies, and clinical significance. They can be characterized primarily into real masses, and normal anatomical structures that masquerade as masses. Real cardiac masses can be further characterized as being benign or malignant, and as being primary or metastatic. In order to differentiate between these possibilities it is important to understand normal anatomy, the physics involved with imaging artifacts (see Chapter 5), and the characterization of real cardiac masses. Echocardiography has been utilized to image cardiac masses since the 1950s, and can be used to characterize the anatomy and pathophysiological consequences of the mass. Although a mass may be histologically benign, it may muck up the normal function of the heart by interfering with chamber filling or valve function, and therefore not be benign from a physiological perspective.