Radiology Case Reports (Oct 2021)

Atypical imaging presentation of a massive intracavitary cardiac thrombus: A case report and brief review of the literature

  • Georgia M. Vasilakis, BPhil,
  • Dhairya A. Lakhani, MD,
  • Ayodele Adelanwa, MD,
  • Jeffery P. Hogg, MD,
  • Cathy Kim, MD

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 10
pp. 2847 – 2852

Abstract

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Intracavitary cardiac thrombi, uncommonly found in the right chambers, have been shown to form secondary to endocardial and myocardial diseases. The differential diagnosis for an intracavitary cardiac mass is broad, including primary cardiac tumors, cardiac metastases, anatomic variants, vegetations, and thrombi. Here we present a unique case with a large calcified intracavitary cardiac thrombus in a 26-year-old woman with obesity, immune thrombocytopenic purpura, and a new diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus. Initial imaging presentation in this case masqueraded as a tumor, delaying the true diagnosis. A combination of cardiac imaging techniques, including transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiograms, cardiac CT, and cardiac MRI were required to correctly diagnose this calcified bland thrombus.

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