Right intracavitary cardiac tumors. Surgical management

The surgical treatment of 6 patients affected by right cardiac tumors is reported. Three of them showed a right atrial myxoma, 1 metastases from an occult embryonal carcinoma and 1 a leiomyosarcoma of the pulmonary artery. While clinical diagnosis was not reliable, the echocardiographic examination was able to assess the site of the tumor, supplying useful information for the anatomy and surgery in 5 cases out of 6; in one case, the diagnosis was reached intraoperatively. All the patients survived the surgical treatment: while those with atrial myxoma recovered completely, the others with malignant tumors died from metastases 5 to 10 months postoperatively. The importance of early diagnosis is stressed together with the role of surgery, which permits the recovery of cases with benign tumors and a longer survival of cases with malignant tumors.