Distribution of Primary Cardiac Mass in Iranian Population and Transesophageal Echocardiography Diagnostic Accuracy

Tumors of the heart can cause significant morbidity and mortality. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) provides better visualization of cardiac structures. The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of cardiac masses in the Iranian population and the diagnostic accuracy of TEE. In a descriptive study, medical records of 175 cases confirmed by echocardiography as a cardiac mass from October 1998 to March 2008 were used. Clinical presentation, echocardiographic, and histopathological findings were collected. Then, the diagnostic accuracy of TEE for the detection of cardiac masses was evaluated. Among the 175 patients, the mean age was 47.5 ± 1.15 years and 64% were female. Malignant cardiac tumors were seen in 1.7% and benign cardiac masses in 98.3% of the patients. Twenty percent of the cardiac masses were intracardiac thrombus. Most of the cases had myxoma (75.4%) and were located in the left atrium (81.5%). Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, and likelihood ratio of TEE for the detection of the tumoral cardiac masses were 71.6%, 94.4%, 98.1%, 44.7%, and 12.8, 0.3, respectively. TEE is an accurate method for the diagnosis of cardiac masses and differentiation of benign tumors form malignant ones and intracardiac thrombi.