Key result
Transesophageal echocardiography-guided transvenous biopsy successfully provided the histologic diagnosis of a primary cardiac sarcoma, avoiding the potential risk of a diagnostic thoracotomy.
Case Report (n=1)
Transesophageal echocardiography-guided transvenous biopsy can be an accurate and less invasive alternative to diagnostic thoracotomy for obtaining samples of unidentified cardiac masses.
May offer less invasive diagnosis for cardiac masses; leaves open comparative safety and accuracy versus surgery.
Transvenous endomyocardial biopsy is a well established procedure to diagnose rejection after heart transplantation as well as to assess for other cardiomyopathic processes. However, it is rarely used to obtain samples of unidentified cardiac masses. We report a case of a primary cardiac sarcoma in which the histologic diagnosis was provided by transesophageal echocardiography-guided transvenous biopsy. This procedure is accurate and can avoid the potential risk of a diagnostic thoracotomy.
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Savoia et al. (1997) conducted a case report in Primary cardiac sarcoma (n=1). Transesophageal echocardiography-guided transvenous biopsy was evaluated on Histologic diagnosis. Transesophageal echocardiography-guided transvenous biopsy successfully provided the histologic diagnosis of a primary cardiac sarcoma, avoiding the potential risk of a diagnostic thoracotomy.