Pediatric Cardiac Tumors: Echocardiographic Imaging Features

Abstract

Cardiac tumors (CTs) in children are very rare, but their diagnosis is crucial for patient management. Echocardiography is the most commonly used cardiovascular imaging modality in clinical practice for the initial diagnosis of CTs in pediatric patients. Knowing the echocardiographic characteristics of CTs can enable an increasingly early diagnosis and the identification of its most likely etiology. Primary and benign CTs are the most frequent types in the pediatric population. Among benign CTs, the most frequent in fetuses and neonates are rhabdomyomas and teratomas. In children and adolescents, rhabdomyomas and fibromas are more common. Here we describe the echocardiographic characteristics of the most common CTs in pediatric patients