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Updated: Jul 13, 2026
06:29
Cardiac Magnetic Resonance for the Evaluation of Suspected Cardiac Thrombus: Conventional and Emerging Techniques
Published on: June 11, 2019
Right atrial mass: tumor or aneurysm?
Bernhard C Danner1, Michael Horst, Probal K Ghosh
1Department of Cardiac Surgery, Klinikum Oldenburg, Dr Eden Street 10, 26133 Oldenburg, Germany. bernhard.danner@dgn.de
Interactive Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery
|August 3, 2007
Summary
A rare saphenous vein graft aneurysm presented as a right atrial tumor after prior heart surgeries. Diagnosis was challenging due to unclear imaging, with histology confirming the graft issue.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Surgery
- Diagnostic Imaging
- Pathology
Background:
- Mediastinal growths pose diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.
- The patient had a history of coronary artery graft surgery (1982) and reoperation (1992).
Purpose of the Study:
- To report a challenging case of a right atrial mass diagnosed as a saphenous vein graft aneurysm.
- To highlight diagnostic difficulties in mediastinal pathology post-cardiac surgery.
Main Methods:
- Clinical presentation of a patient with a right atrial mass.
- Diagnostic imaging including echocardiography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
- Histological examination of the resected mass.
Main Results:
- Echocardiography and MRI scans failed to precisely delineate the mass.
- Histological analysis confirmed the mass to be a saphenous vein graft aneurysm.
Conclusions:
- Saphenous vein graft aneurysms can manifest as mediastinal or atrial masses.
- Multimodality imaging may not always provide definitive diagnosis for graft-related pathologies.
- Histopathology is crucial for accurate diagnosis of unusual mediastinal findings.
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