Anatomical variants and cardiac masses

Chapter 5 is divided into two sections. In Section 1, anatomical variants that can lead to misdiagnosis or that are associated with cardiac pathology are described. Anatomical variants are grouped by location, starting with those in the right atrium and sequentially covering the LA, atrial septum, RV, LV, heart valves, pericardium, and extracardiac structures. In Section 2, cardiac masses and abnormal spaces are reviewed, including thrombi, vegetations, cysts, and tumours. The differences in echo reflectance of different cardiac masses is explained. For cardiac tumours, the incidence and characteristics of primary versus secondary and benign versus malignant lesions are described.