Copyright © 2006, The European Society of Cardiology
Mass-like appearance of a saphenous vein graft
Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Cardiology, Altindag Ilcesi, Ankara, Turkey
Received 4 February 2006; received in revised form 17 February 2006; accepted after revision 13 March 2006.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 3123322049. orucun{at}yahoo.com
Keywords: Cardiac mass; Coronary artery bypass grafting; Saphenous vein grafts; Coronary MRI-angiography
A 64-year-old man with a history of ischaemic heart disease and hypertension underwent coronary artery by-pass grafting operation in 1997 after an attack of inferior myocardial infarction. At his last visit a normal physical examination was noted along with an unchanged ECG. On transthoracic echocardiography, a mass-like structure was noted on the free wall of the right atrium. The mass could not be identified due to imaging quality, thus a transesophageal echocardiography was scheduled to rule out a pathologic mass. On transesophageal echocardiography, it was noted that the structure was a round cystic mass like a vessel and it was thought that it may be a saphenous vein graft to right coronary artery (Fig. 1, arrow). Cardiac MRI and MR angiography confirmed the diagnosis. This case highlights the importance of awareness of normal cardiac structures mimicking a mass in order to avoid unnecessary and time-and-money wasting investigations.
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