Echocardiographic diagnosis of left atrial myxoma. Usefulness of suprasternal approach.

Three cases of left atrial myxoma were studied by echocardiography. In one case the atrial tumour was prolapsing through the mitral orifice into the left ventricular cavity; in the other two cases it was not. The angiocardiographic and operative findings correlated well with those from echocardiography. A systematic echocardiographic study is important; the suprasternal approach is useful in the echocardiographic exploration of the left atriu, especially for nonprolapsing tumours.