Key result
Contrast-enhanced chest CT identifies a rare interventricular septal cardiac lipoma in tuberous sclerosis complex.
Why the study?
Discrete cardiac lipoma-like masses are uncommon cardiac manifestations in adults with tuberous sclerosis complex, requiring differentiation from typical myocardial fatty foci.
Case Report (n=1)
This case highlights the importance of integrating lesion morphology, size, and tissue composition on CT to differentiate rare discrete cardiac lipomas from typical myocardial fatty foci in adults with tuberous sclerosis complex.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Alerts clinicians to include lipoma in TSC fat-containing lesion differentials; extends cardiac manifestations but remains hypothesis-generating.
Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a multisystem genetic disorder in which cardiac rhabdomyomas and myocardial fatty foci are recognized cardiac manifestations, whereas discrete cardiac lipoma-like masses are uncommon. We report a 42-year-old woman with genetically and clinically confirmed TSC who underwent contrast-enhanced chest CT for surveillance of pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis. CT demonstrated a well-circumscribed homogeneous macroscopic-fat attenuation mass centered in the mid-to-apical interventricular septum, measuring 2.8 × 2.2 × 2.0 cm with mean attenuation of approximately −92 HU and mild contour bulging toward the right ventricular cavity. The discrete mass-like morphology and homogeneous macroscopic fat favored cardiac lipoma over a typical TSC-associated myocardial fatty focus, although definitive distinction remains limited in the absence of dedicated cardiac MRI or histopathologic confirmation. This case emphasizes the imaging differential of fat-containing myocardial lesions in adults with TSC and the importance of integrating lesion morphology, size, tissue composition, and mass effect rather than relying on septal location alone.
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Dhakal et al. (2026) conducted a case report in Tuberous sclerosis complex (n=1). Contrast-enhanced chest CT was evaluated. Contrast-enhanced chest CT in a 42-year-old woman with tuberous sclerosis complex revealed a 2.8 × 2.2 × 2.0 cm fat-containing mass in the interventricular septum, likely a cardiac lipoma.
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