Computed Tomography of Cardiac Malignancies

Primary cardiac neoplasms-tumors originating in heart tissue-are rare. Most are benign, but even these can be life threatening. Metastatic cardiac tumors are secondary tumors that spread to heart tissues and are far more common than primary heart cancers. Computed tomography (CT) and other diagnostic imaging modalities play important roles in the multimodality detection, diagnosis, characterization, and treatment planning of cardiac malignancies. This article introduces the anatomy, pathobiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of adult and pediatric cardiac malignancies, with an emphasis on the roles of CT imaging.