Echocardiographic Characteristics of Pulmonary Artery Intimal Sarcoma: Comparison With CTPA

Wei Jiang; Mingxi Liu; Xiaojuan Guo; Jifeng Li; Juanni Gong; MinFu Yang; Yan Liu; Song Gu; Yidan Li; Yuanhua Yang; Xiuzhang Lv

doi:10.1016/j.hlc.2023.05.013

Echocardiographic Characteristics of Pulmonary Artery Intimal Sarcoma: Comparison With CTPA

Heart Lung Circ. 2023 Sep;32(9):1080-1088. doi: 10.1016/j.hlc.2023.05.013. Epub 2023 Jun 22.

Authors

Wei Jiang¹, Mingxi Liu², Xiaojuan Guo², Jifeng Li³, Juanni Gong³, MinFu Yang⁴, Yan Liu⁵, Song Gu⁵, Yidan Li¹, Yuanhua Yang³, Xiuzhang Lv⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ultrasound Medicine, Beijing Chao Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
² Department of Radiology, Beijing Chao Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
³ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Chao Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
⁴ Department of Nuclear Medicine, Beijing Chao Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
⁵ Department of Cardiac Surgery, Beijing Chao Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
⁶ Department of Ultrasound Medicine, Beijing Chao Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: weitwo@hotmail.com.

PMID: 37355431
DOI: 10.1016/j.hlc.2023.05.013

Abstract

Objectives: This study examined the echocardiographic characteristics of patients with pulmonary artery intimal sarcoma (PAIS) and compared the results with those from computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA).

Method: Twenty-six (26) patients were diagnosed with PAIS at the current institution during the study period, and 23 were eligible for analysis. Echocardiography and CTPA examinations were performed in all enrolled patients.

Results: The echocardiography results showed that most lesions had expansive growth in the left pulmonary artery (PA); the right PA; or a combination of the left PA, right PA, and main PA, with extension to the pulmonary valve and/or right ventricular outflow tract. These lesions also had distinctive sieve-like echogenic signals. Echocardiography also showed that some lesions had lobulated shapes, were nearly round and echolucent or with calcifications, and moved during imaging. The lesion distribution was similar in CTPA and echocardiography (p=0.361), but CTPA was more sensitive in detection of the complete shape (p=0.023).

Conclusions: The unique echocardiographic characteristics of PAIS, especially the "sieve sign", could help in the diagnosis of this cancer. Transthoracic echocardiography is a non-invasive technique that appears effective in detecting PAIS.

Keywords: CTPA; Echocardiography; Pulmonary artery intimal sarcoma; Sieve sign.

MeSH terms

Echocardiography / methods
Humans
Lung
Lung Neoplasms*
Pulmonary Artery / diagnostic imaging
Pulmonary Artery / pathology
Pulmonary Embolism* / diagnosis
Sarcoma* / diagnostic imaging