Detection of left atrial myxoma with SPECT cardiac imaging

A 69-year-old man with a left atrial myxoma underwent a gated cardiac blood pool radionuclide study that failed to visualize the cardiac tumor on either the planar images or on the composite cineangiograms from the anterior and 45 degrees LAO projections. A nongated cardiac SPECT examination, however, easily demonstrated the atrial myxoma in its characteristic location, adjacent to the interatrial septum. SPECT dramatically improved the image contrast; provided views in transaxial, coronal, and sagittal planes; and allowed direct comparison with computed tomography. Gated cardiac SPECT may be expected to provide a more accurate analysis of the complex motion and attachment site of these intracardiac tumors, as well as a more accurate tumor volume analysis.