Magnetic resonance imaging of the heart in a case of hepatocellular carcinoma extending into the right atrium.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common primary malignant liver tumor occurring in more than 1 million cases a year all over the world. Vascular invasion is known to occur in 30% of patients at initial presentation [1]. An extension of the tumor into the right atrium is well described in the literature [2], with surgical resection as the only procedure available. But the diagnosis is often difficult before death. We report a case in which magnetic resonance imaging of liver and heart shows the extension of this tumor into the right atrium.