Clinical presentation and diagnosis of angiosarcoma of the right atrium: Noninvasive recognition of a rare cardiac tumor

We describe the diagnosis of a right atrial mass lesion in a 31-year-old white man who presented with impending cardiac tamponade from an unexplained pericardial effusion. The tumor was sufficiently characterized by two-dimensional echocardiography and contrast computed tomographic scanning to allow surgical resection without the need for angiography. This demonstrates the value of two-dimensional echocardiography in the early diagnosis of cardiac masses and the use of contrast computed tomographic scanning in their characterization.