Tumor encasement of the right coronary artery: role of anatomic and functional imaging in diagnosis and therapeutic management

Yu-Hsiang Juan; Yiannis S Chatzizisis; Sachin S Saboo; Tatiana Rocha; Michael L Steigner

doi:10.2174/1874192401408010110

Tumor encasement of the right coronary artery: role of anatomic and functional imaging in diagnosis and therapeutic management

Open Cardiovasc Med J. 2014 Nov 13:8:110-2. doi: 10.2174/1874192401408010110. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Yu-Hsiang Juan¹, Yiannis S Chatzizisis², Sachin S Saboo³, Tatiana Rocha³, Michael L Steigner³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Department of Medical Imaging and Intervention, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou and Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
² Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Cardiovascular Division, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
³ Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Abstract

We presented two rare cases of mediastinal tumor encasing the right coronary artery (RCA), one with recurrent metastatic thymoma and another with primary poorly differentiated neoplasm. Different degrees and locations of RCA involvement were noted. The treatment approach varied from conservative to surgical. Coronary artery involvement by mediastinal tumors is important to be investigated with imaging as it may guide the surgical planning.

Keywords: Computed Tomography; Right Coronary Artery; Tumor; Vascular Encasement..