Cardiac myxoma.

Thirty-five patients (10 men and 25 women) with a preoperative diagnosis of cardiac myxoma have undergone cardiac surgery since 1964 at the University of Louvain. The mean age of the patients was 49 (range 20-75) years. The most commonly encountered symptoms were: dyspnoea 49%; thoracic pain 26%; cough and peripheral embolism 17% each; stroke and preoperative atrial fibrillation 14% each; flutter 11%; expectoration, acute pulmonary oedema, syncope and transient ischaemic attack 6% each; and pulmonary embolism 3%. The different locations were: left atrium 66%; right atrium 26%; both atria 3%; right ventricle 3%: and retrohepatic vena cavae 3%. Septal implantation was found in 66%. Histological examination confirmed 28 myxomas but three 'tumours' were thrombi, two haemangiomas, one rhabdomyosarcoma and one liposarcoma. The follow-up has now reached 2829 months with an average of 81 months per patient (range 0-342 months). Three patients died early (9%) and there were four late deaths (11%). No cases were familial. Surgical resection is the correct treatment for cardiac myxomas and gives good long-term results.