Background: Cardiac masses (CM) encompass a broad set of lesions that can be either neoplastic or non-neoplastic. A stepwise diagnostic strategy through multimodality imaging evaluation is the cornerstone for the appropriate approach.
Case summary: We report the case of an 83-year-old man presenting at the emergency department for acute heart failure showing bilateral atrial masses without unequivocal aetiological aspects at several imaging techniques, emphasizing the critical aspects in the differential diagnosis.
Discussion: In the complex field of CM, a proper differential diagnosis is very important in order to start the appropriate treatment; however, sometimes it could be challenging despite a multimodality imaging approach, therefore still requiring histologic examination.
Keywords: Atrial thrombi; Cardiac masses; Case report; Imaging of intracardiac masses.
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.