Primary cardiac tumors. A clinical experience of 12 years.

From January 1980 through December 1992, we performed operations on 31 patients with primary cardiac tumors. There were 12 male and 19 female patients; the ages ranged from 7 to 71 years (mean, 47.7 +/- 18.3 years); 29 were adults and 2 were children. Twenty-six (83.9%) of the tumors were benign, and 5 were malignant. The most frequently encountered benign tumor was myxoma (22), and the most frequently encountered malignant tumor was fibrosarcoma (4). The most common symptoms at clinical presentation were those associated with cardiac insufficiency or embolization. Definition of the tumor was accomplished in all patients by echocardiography; cardiac angiography was performed in only 4 patients. All patients survived the operative procedure and were discharged from the hospital, but 4 patients with malignant disease died within 30 days. Follow-up for myxoma patients ranged from 16 to 151 months (mean, 68.5 +/- 36 months). Among the 26 patients with benign tumors, there was 1 death, 72 months after the surgical procedure, of right-heart failure due to recurrence of the myxoma.