Cardiac masses diagnosed on transthoracic echocardiography at Nigerian Tertiary Hospital: A 3-year review

Background: Echocardiography has since its inception, assumed a significant role in evaluation of cardiac masses, supplanting other diagnostic modalities for this purpose. We reviewed the various kinds of cardiac masses detected using transthoracic echocardiography in our center over a period of 3-year.Materials and Methods: Echocardiographic data of patients that underwent transthoracic echocardiography from January 2011 to December 2013 were retrieved. All subjects had standard transthoracic echocardiography including all forms of Doppler modalities where appropriate. Descriptive statistics was used in assessing the proportion of the different cardiac masses observed.Results: One thousand three hundred and two transthoracic echocardiograms were performed over the 3-year period, out of which 1224 comprising 591 (48.3%) males and 633 (51.7%) females were retrieved and reviewed. Their mean age was 39.62 (20.6) years. Cardiac masses were documented in 106 (8.7%) of the subjects. The most common cardiac mass was intracardiac thrombus, observed in 89 (84.0%) followed by vegetation in 10 (9.4%). A presumptive diagnosis of right atrial myxoma was made in 4 (3.8%), whereas 1 (0.9%) had a right atrial mass of uncertain cause. Inferior vena cava mass and metastatic lesion to pericardium were each diagnosed in 1 (0.9%) patient. Most of the cardiac thrombi involved the left ventricle (94.4%), whereas vegetations were mainly on the mitral valve (80%).Conclusion: The dominant causes of cardiac mass observed are cardiac thrombus, commonly involving the left ventricle, and vegetations on mitral valve.