Left ventricular pseudoaneurysm: Diagnosis by cine magnetic resonance imaging

We report a case that illustrates the difficulty in diagnosing left ventric ular (LV) pseudoaneurysm and the potential value of cine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), A 69-year-old man with a history of ischemic congestive hea rt failure had a mass found on routine chest X-ray, contiguous with the car diac silhouette. Neither CT nor echocardiography accurately defined the mas s. The diagnosis of LV pseudoaneurysm was definitely made by cine MRI, Alth ough the accuracy of various imaging modalities for detecting LV pseudoaneu rysm is not known, cine MRI was the most useful test in this case. Despite refusing surgery to correct the pseudoaneurysm, the patient survived for ne arly 4 years, treated only with anticoagulation, Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karg er AG, Basel.