HEART INVOLVEMENT IN LYMPHOMAS - THE VALUE OF MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING AND 2-DIMENSIONAL ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY AT DISEASE PRESENTATION

Background and Methods. Thirty-six patients with mediastinal lymphoma were studied with chest magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and two-dimen sional echocardiography at presentation to define the extent of the di sease in the paracardiac area. Results. Involvement of cardiac structu res was present in 23 of 36 patients (64%). Pericardial contiguity was detected in 23 of 23 patients (100%) by MRI and in 18 of 23 patients (78%) by echocardiography. Pericardial effusion, present in 17 patient s (74%), and pericardial infiltration, present in 7 patients (30%), we re detected by both techniques in 71% and 86%, respectively. Myocardia l infiltration was identified in two of two patients (100%) by MRI and in one of two patients (50%) by two-dimensional echocardiography. Ext rapericardial disease was identified in 100% of patients by MRI but on ly in 30% of patients by echocardiography. Conclusions. Extracardiac a nd intracardiac involvement is a frequent event in mediastinal lymphom as and should be carefully evaluated with different imaging modalities , mainly MRI, for correct diagnosis and proper management.