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Common benign primary pediatric cardiac tumors: a primer for radiologists
Dora Grgat1, Daniel Dilber2, Maja Hrabak Paar3
1Institute for Emergency Medicine of Zagreb County, Velika Gorica, Croatia.
Insights
Pediatric cardiac tumors, mostly benign, require prompt diagnosis. Echocardiography, CT, and MRI aid in identifying features of common types like rhabdomyomas and fibromas.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Diagnostic Imaging
Background:
- Primary cardiac tumors are rare in children, with approximately 90% being benign.
- Accurate and timely diagnosis is crucial for effective management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the clinical, echocardiographic, CT, and MRI features of common pediatric cardiac tumors.
- To provide differential diagnosis for cardiac rhabdomyomas, fibromas, teratomas, and lipomas.
Main Methods:
- Review of clinical presentations.
- Analysis of echocardiography, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings.
- Comparison of imaging features for differential diagnosis.
Main Results:
- Echocardiography is the initial imaging modality due to accessibility and safety.
- CT and MRI provide superior soft tissue and extracardiac structure visualization.
- MRI offers functional assessment, crucial for obstructing tumors.
Conclusions:
- Integration of clinical and imaging data is essential for diagnosing pediatric cardiac tumors.
- Understanding the distinct features of rhabdomyomas, fibromas, teratomas, and lipomas aids in differential diagnosis.
- Advanced imaging like MRI plays a vital role in characterizing cardiac neoplasms and assessing their impact.
Abstract:
Cardiac tumors are neoplasms arising from or located in the heart or the pericardium. Although rare, primary cardiac tumors in children require an accurate and timely diagnosis. Most pediatric primary cardiac tumors are benign (around 90%). Echocardiography is the first imaging modality used due to its availability, noninvasiveness, inexpensiveness, and absence of ionizing radiation. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offer better soft tissue visualization as well as better visualization of extracardiac structures. A great advantage of MRI is the possibility of measuring cardiac function and blood flow, which can be important for obstructing cardiac tumors. In this article, we will offer a brief review of clinical, echocardiographic, CT, and MRI features of cardiac rhabdomyomas, fibromas, teratomas, and lipomas providing their differential diagnosis.
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