Review Article

Fatty Images of the Heart: Spectrum of Normal and Pathological Findings by Computed Tomography and Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Figure 3

Thoracic noncontrast CT axial image in a 45-year-old female without any cardiac disease incidentally reveals a curvilinear hypodense stripe located within the subepicardial layer of the myocardium at the left ventricular apex, with negative attenuation values (a). The finding is successively confirmed at a cardiac CT postcontrast medium administration in axial view ((b) arrow) and in short axis multiplanar reconstruction ((c) arrow). In (d–f), the corresponding CMR exam, requested for a further evaluation, confirms the presence of the hyperintense stripe at the same place on T1-weighted black blood in four chambers ((d) arrow) and in short axis view ((e) arrow), with associated nulled signal on fat-suppressed T2-weighted image ((f) arrow), according to physiologic left ventricular apical fatty tissue.
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