The aim of this study is to investigate the imaging features of intravascular leiomyoma (IVL) involving the heart and the imaging techniques in the diagnosis of this disease. The imaging features of contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT), the clinical data and the pathological data of a case of IVL involving the right atrium were retrospectively analyzed and the literatures were reviewed. A 42-year-old woman was admitted to Jinan Central Hospital with a 7-day history of lower extremity weakness, chest tightness and short breath. Contrast-enhanced CT scanning revealed that there was a mass in the inferior vena cava and right atrium, which was heterogeneously enhanced. There was a gap between the vessel wall and the mass. Spiral CT scanning with multiplanner reformation (MPR) reconstruction revealed the morphology, scope and extension pathways of the tumor clearly. Ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) also played important roles in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of IVL. To the patients with a history of uterine fibroids, spiral CT scanning, US and MRI could be used to improve the correct diagnosis rates of IVL before surgery.
Keywords: Imaging manifestations; intravascular leiomyoma; the right atrium.