Cardiac Myxomas: Experience Over One Decade

Background: This single-center study reviews our experience with cardiac myxomas over the past decade. Methods: Sixty-two patients (23 male) with median age 38 years (range: 8 to 69 years) underwent excision of primary or recurrent cardiac myxomas between 2000 and 2009. Patients were evaluated with echocardiography preoperatively and annually postoperatively. Follow-up is current for all survivors (range 13 months to 10 years). Results: Fifty-two patients had left atrial myxomas, seven right atrial, two biatrial, and one right ventricular. Three cases were familial. Maximum number of myxomas in a single patient was four. Symptom duration ranged from two to eight months. Two early deaths were due to low cardiac output and embolic cerebrovascular accident; one late death was due to a noncardiac cause. Actuarial survival was 96.8 +/- 1.8% at 10 years. Most patients were asymptomatic following surgery. No sporadic, multiple, or biatrial myxomas recurred. Recurrence occurred in two familial cases, both with single, left atrial myxoma. Freedom from reoperation was 98.4 +/- 1.3% at five years and 96.8 +/- 1.8% at 10 years. Conclusions: Biatrial involvement or multiplicity of myxomas does not mandate recurrence. Surgical excision has excellent overall survival and freedom from reoperation rates, but annual follow-up including echocardiographic surveillance is recommended as familial cases tend to recur. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-8191.2011.01271.x (J Card Surg 2011; 26: 355-359)