Intraoperative trans-mitral endoscopic resection of left ventricular tumor.

A successful resection of left ventricular tumor in an 82-year-old woman who had undergone coronary artery bypass grafting ten years ago is presented. In an attempt to make a procedure less invasive, we chose a trans-mitral endoscopic resection with minimum dissection because of reoperation on patient of advanced age. With the use of cardiopulmonary bypass and cardioplegic protection, the right side of left atrium was incised longitudinally. The endoscope was inserted in the ventricle via the mitral valve. A stalk of the tumor was cut by snare strangulation and the whole tumor was extracted endoscopically. The postoperative course was uneventful. To our best knowledge, this is the first report on endoscopic resection of the left ventricular tumor via a mitral valve. This method appear to be the choice in resecting the left ventricular tumor.