Is transesophageal echocardiography useful in planning surgery of mediastinal thymomas? Transesophageal investigation of a mediastinal thymoma.

Thymomas are the commonest tumors arising in the anterior mediastinum, sometimes representing an incidental finding at radiological examination. Surgery of these neoplasms must be planned after accurately assessing the invasive or non-invasive nature of the mass. In the present case this could be achieved also by submitting the patient to transesophageal echocardiography which could accurately exclude infiltration of heart walls.

Congestive heart failure secondary to right ventricular metastasis of colon cancer. A case report and review of the literature.

Although metastatic tumors of the heart occur more frequently than primary ones, infiltration of the right heart by a metastatic colon cancer has rarely been reported. We report the case of a woman previously operated on for colon cancer, presenting with symptoms of congestive heart failure due to metastatic invasion of the right ventricular cavity. Both transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography were useful in detecting the mass, but not in defining its nature.