Lipomatous hypertrophy of the interatrial septum

Lipomatous hypertrophy of the interatrial septum (LHIS) is a benign disorder characterized by a fatty accumulation in the interatrial septum. It typically occurs in obese, elderly patients and may cause arrhythmias. In this report we present the case of an oncology patient with metastasis of unknown origin and a fatty mass of the interatrial septum. Due to clinical suspicion of metastases multislice CT (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analysis were performed. Although MRI is a very accurate modality to diagnose LHIS, also MSCT scanning alone is a useful method. The incidence of LHIS is reported to be 2.2%, but is likely to increase in the future due to the aging population and the proliferation and increasing usage non-invasive imaging modalities.