Intracardiac echocardiography for guiding biopsy of cardiac tumors: a novel noninvasive technique

Since intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) was introduced into clinical practice about 20 years ago, the application of ICE in cardiac procedure has gradually expanded. Currently, ICE is most prevalent in electrophysiologic procedures, percutaneous device closures and the emerging transcatheter aortic valve implantation technique. Considering the various advantages of ICE shown in other cardiac procedures, these could also be applied to biopsy for cardiac tumors. Although cardiac biopsy is not a common procedure, the prognosis of cardiac tumor presents critical variation according to the primary pathology, and tissue diagnosis is essential for the treatment plan. Therefore, we should improve the current quality of cardiac biopsy, and the novel imaging modality; ICE could be important for this aim.