{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T09:01:36Z","timestamp":1780045296902,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,19]],"date-time":"2023-04-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1681862400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"CardioPaTh PhD Program"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background. Cardiac masses (CM) represent a heterogeneous clinical scenario, and sex-related differences of these patients remain to be established. Purpose: To evaluate sex-related disparities in CMs regarding clinical presentation and outcomes. Material and Methods. The study cohort included 321 consecutive patients with CM enrolled in our Centre between 2004 and 2022. A definitive diagnosis was achieved by histological examination or, in the case of cardiac thrombi, with radiological evidence of thrombus resolution after anticoagulant treatment. All-cause mortality at follow-up was evaluated. Multivariable regression analysis assessed the potential prognostic disparities between men and women. Results. Out of 321 patients with CM, 172 (54%) were female. Women were more frequently younger (p = 0.02) than men. Regarding CM histotypes, females were affected by benign masses more frequently (with cardiac myxoma above all), while metastatic tumours were more common in men (p &lt; 0.001). At presentation, peripheral embolism occurred predominantly in women (p = 0.03). Echocardiographic features such as greater dimension, irregular margin, infiltration, sessile mass and immobility were far more common in men. Despite a better overall survival in women, no sex-related differences were observed in the prognosis of benign or malignant masses. In fact, in multivariate analyses, sex was not independently associated with all-cause death. Conversely, age, smoking habit, malignant tumours and peripheral embolism were independent predictors of mortality. Conclusions. In a large cohort of cardiac masses, a significant sex-related difference in histotype prevalence was found: Benign CMs affected female patients more frequently, while malignant tumours affected predominantly men. Despite better overall survival in women, sex did not influence prognosis in benign and malignant masses.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm12082958","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,19]],"date-time":"2023-04-19T03:20:39Z","timestamp":1681874439000},"page":"2958","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Sex-Related Disparities in Cardiac Masses: Clinical Features and Outcomes"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Francesco","family":"Angeli","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8186-9717","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luca","family":"Bergamaschi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrea","family":"Rinaldi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7017-778X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pasquale","family":"Paolisso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, University Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7971-8052","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Matteo","family":"Armillotta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrea","family":"Stefanizzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, 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Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrea","family":"Impellizzeri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6101-5298","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesca","family":"Bodega","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lisa","family":"Canton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda 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Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Davide","family":"Bertolini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francesco Pio","family":"Tattilo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-0782-8660","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniele","family":"Cavallo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ornella","family":"Di Iuorio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8254-1502","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Khrystyna","family":"Ryabenko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marcello","family":"Casuso Alvarez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nazzareno","family":"Gali\u00e8","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alberto","family":"Fo\u00e0","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of 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