Utility of Indium-111 Octreotide to Identify a Cardiac Metastasis of a Carcinoid Neoplasm

Abstract

Carcinoid heart disease is classically described as right-sided valvular pathology. Solid cardiac metastases from carcinoid tumors are seldom reported. A multimodality imaging approach is needed to diagnose and localize this disease. Biopsy remains the gold standard to confirm the diagnosis of carcinoid. Octreotide uptake is characteristic of carcinoid tumor but not myxoma; thus, an indium-111 octreotide scan is very specific for the diagnosis of carcinoid tumor and helps in assessing the extent of carcinoid disease. We present a case in which an indium-111 octreotide scan revealed uptake in three distinct masses in the colon, liver, and right ventricle. The results of the scan were contradictory to the biopsy results, which were diagnostic for hepatic carcinoid and cardiac myxoma.