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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Cardiac Magnetic Resonance for the Evaluation of Suspected Cardiac Thrombus: Conventional and Emerging Techniques
Published on: June 11, 2019
Location, location, location: a left atrial mass
Michael A Chen1, Alicia A Ahlgrim, Camilla T Allen
1Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA 98104, USA. michen@u.washington.edu
A 58-year-old man admitted to the hospital with an acute stroke was found to have a left atrial mass attached to the interatrial septum via a stalk. Although initially thought to be a myxoma, the mass was pathologically proved to be a thrombus. Clues pointing to thrombus as the etiology were a history of atrial fibrillation, the absence of anticoagulation, an enlarged left atrium, and the presence of spontaneous echo contrast.
A 58-year-old man admitted to the hospital with an acute stroke was found to have a left atrial mass attached to the interatrial septum via a stalk. Although initially thought to be a myxoma, the mass was pathologically proved to be a thrombus. Clues pointing to thrombus as the etiology were a history of atrial fibrillation, the absence of anticoagulation, an enlarged left atrium, and the presence of spontaneous echo contrast.
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