Ten years’ clinical experience of cardiac myxoma: diagnosis, treatment, and clinical outcomes

Cardiac myxoma (CM) is the most common type of benign primary cardiac tumor (1). Approximately more than half of primary cardiac tumors are myxomas (2). They are most commonly diagnosed between the age of 30 and 60 years (3). CM is described as a sporadic or familiar disorder in the literature (2, 3). A limited number of patients have been referred with the classical triad of obstructive cardiac symptoms: pulmonary edema, progressive heart failure (HF), and arterial embolic events. Rarely, syncope/vertigo or sudden death can be the first symptom of CM. For early diagnosis, transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is being increasingly used. Recently, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and/or thoracic computed tomography (CT) have been used for prompt diagnosis. Early and optimal surgical excisions have shown excellent early- and long-term results, with no recurrence of the tumor (4). According to previous studies, CMs may be diagnosed sporadically in 90% of patients (5).