[Surgical treatment of left-atrial myxoma]

The authors had 29 patients with myxomas of the left atrium under observation and treated them by operation. Three patients died after the operation. Examination of 22 patients in postoperative periods of 8 months to 15 years did not reveal recurrent tumors of the heart. The extremely rare development of tumors of the heart and the absence of specific clinical manifestations make it difficult to establish the diagnosis in time. The relatively high postoperative mortality (12%) is due, first of all, to establishment of the diagnosis during the operation as a consequence of which an emergency operation on an open heart cannot be conducted. Operative treatment is indicated for all patients with a recognized tumor of the heart.