Case of the week 0717 Right Atrial Tumour or not

1
Case of the week 07-17 Right Atrial Tumour or
not?
a
b
History An incidental mass was identified in the
right atrium of a middle aged female on
pre-operative trans thoracic echocardiography
(image a). CMR requested for further
characterization.
CMR The right atrium on 4 chamber (b) has a
deep AV groove, and a prominent crista
terminalis. These combine to mimic tumor. This
is confirmed on tissue characterisation the
mass is shown to be normal AV groove fat and
crista terminalis (TSE and TSE with fat-sat, c
and d) However, the scout transaxial HASTE
images (Half Fourier Single Shot Turbo (Fast)
Spin Echo) show an incidental soft tissue lesion
in the periphery of the right lung on transaxial
imaging (arrow, image e). Perspective The
apparent mass is identified as a large amount of
fat in the AV groove, but CMR reveals a
previously unsuspected non cardiac abnormality.
Attention should be paid on reporting CMR to the
non-cardiac anatomy.
d
c
e
John Petersen, Carsten Schmalfuss, Pat Mergo,
Gary R. Cooper, CMR Service, University of
Florida, Gainesville, FL. USA