[Open heart surgery for removal of secondary cardiac tumors]

Recent remarkable development of the non-invasive diagnostic apparatus such as two dimensional echocardiography, computed tomography and RI angiography improves early diagnosis for secondary cardiac tumors and promotes surgical treatments for them. Five cases of secondary intracardiac tumors underwent open heart surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass with successful removal. Although a case of direct invasion of a malignant thymoma into the pericardium, RA and SVC was lost at ICU after surgery because of massive hemorrhage followed by LOS, another 4 cases, i.e., a 27 year-old female with implantation of LA myxoma into the RA and RV, a case with intracavitary extension of leiomyosarcoma of the IVC, a case of intravenous extension of the uterine leiomyomatosis through the IVC to the pulmonary artery and a case of intravenous extension of chondrosarcoma of the left fibula to the heart are alive actively. Open heart surgery has become acceptable treatment for cases with secondary intracavitary cardiac tumors in order to rescue emergency cases with circulatory obstruction by the tumor mass, to make sure a pathological diagnosis of unknown origin and to promote further chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy after surgery. Our surgical results may support these active treatments for secondary cardiac tumors.