Assessment of non-invasive new imaging techniques in the diagnosis of heart liposarcoma

Two patients, with recurrent acute pericarditis as the first presentation of liposarcoma, were admitted to our department between August and December 1992. The pericarditis was pericardial in one case and retroperitoneal with pericardial inflammation in the other. In contrast to most reported cases, where diagnosis was made post-mortem, diagnosis and surgical decision were based on non-invasive imaging techniques, without cardiac angiography. In cases of recurrent acute pericarditis resistant to usual drugs, new imaging techniques, such as computed tomodensitometry and magnetic resonance imaging, can detect rare causes such as liposarcomas in which prognosis is critically dependent on early diagnosis.