Surgical experience of cardiac tumors: Early and late results

Purpose. Cardiac tumors include benign and malignant neoplasms that arise within the cardiac chambers or myocardium. This study summarizes our surgical experiences with cardiac tumors. Methods. Between 1975 and 2003, 51 patients with cardiac tumors were surgically treated. Results. Myxomas. Forty-seven cardiac myxomas were excised in 46 patients with an average age of 51.7 ± 18 years. The preoperative symptoms included congestive heart failure (37%) and embolism (30%). The incidence of preoperative embolization was significantly higher in the gelatinous and lobated myxomas than in the solid and smooth form (P = 0.017). The early mortality rate was 2.2%. Although the late mortality rate was 9.7%, no patients died from cardiological causes (mean follow-up, 11.2 years). Only 1 patient required surgery for recurrence. Benign nonmyxomatous tumors. Three patients with a mean age of 26.3 ± 19.0 years showed benign nonmyxomatous tumors. There were no perioperative or late deaths. Malignant tumors. Two patients were diagnosed to have malignant tumors and although there was no perioperative death, both died postoperatively within 6 months. Conclusions. Cardiac myxomas and nonmyxomatous benign cardiac tumors show excellent results after a surgical excision, with a low morbidity and mortality. A surgical resection should thus be considered as a treatment option for patients with malignant tumors.