Intraoperative endoscopic resection of left ventricular tumors.

Two cases involving patients who underwent a successful endoscopic resection of a left ventricular tumor are presented herein. One was an 82-year-old woman with a left ventricular papillary fibroelastoma, who underwent previous coronary artery bypass grafting. In an attempt to make the procedure less invasive, we used an endoscope. With a full sternotomy, cardiopulmonary bypass, and cardioplegic protection, the endoscope was inserted into the left ventricular cavity through the mitral valve. The other patient was a 63-year-old man with left ventricular papillary fibroelastoma, in whom we performed an endoscopic transaortic resection. The endoscope provided an excellent view, and the tumors were easily extracted in both cases without any complications.