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. 2009 Nov;253(2):359-63.
doi: 10.1148/radiol.2533082118. Epub 2009 Aug 25.

Fatty foci in the myocardium in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex: common finding at CT

Miraude E A P M Adriaensen  1 , Cornelia M Schaefer-Prokop, Debbie A C Duyndam, Bernard A Zonnenberg, Mathias Prokop
Affiliations

Fatty foci in the myocardium in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex: common finding at CT

Miraude E A P M Adriaensen et al. Radiology. 2009 Nov.

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the morphologic characteristics of focal fatty foci in the myocardium of patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) at computed tomography (CT).

Materials and methods: Institutional review board approval was obtained, and patient informed consent was waived. Fifty-five patients with TSC (mean age, 37 years; range, 16-67 years; 22 male patients) who had CT results available that included at least the basal portions of the heart were included. Fifty-five age- and sex-matched control subjects without TSC were selected from a CT database. Images were reviewed for the presence of areas of fat attenuation in the depicted portions of the myocardium. Descriptive statistics and the McNemar test for case-control comparisons were used.

Results: CT results demonstrated foci of fat attenuation within the myocardium in 35 (64%) of 55 patients with TSC. Foci were well circumscribed and focal and located in the interventricular septum, left ventricle wall, right ventricle wall, and papillary muscles. Size varied between 3 x 1 mm and 62 x 31 mm. Multiple lesions were seen in 19 patients. In the control group, only one (2%) lesion with fat attenuation was found (P < .001). Its linear shape and subendocardial location in the left ventricular wall differed from the morphology of fatty foci seen in patients with TSC.

Conclusion: Despite incomplete depiction of the heart with CT, the majority of patients with TSC demonstrated well-circumscribed foci of fat attenuation in the myocardium that were not present in age- and sex-matched control subjects. This suggests that such fatty foci may be another characteristic of TSC.

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