Surgery for cardiac myxomas: 12-year experience.

Introduction: Cardiac myxoma is a rare benign cardiac tumor observed in approximately 0.5-1 case per 1 million people per year. The aim of this study is to review our 12-year experience in the surgical treatment of cardiac myxoma with an emphasis on the clinical, pathologic, diagnostic, and surgical features.
Methods and Patients: From January 2010 to December 2022, 90 patients (0.67 %) with cardiac myxomas were surgically treated in our institute. Patients´ demographics, cardiac and surgical medical history, surgical procedures, and pre- and post-operative data were analyzed. The median follow-up time was 76 (1-216) months.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 59.4 ± 13.5 years, with a higher prevalence of women. The most common preoperative symptoms were arterial embolism and dyspnea, and 35.6 % of patients were asymptomatic. Only 8.9 % of the patients had systemic and constitutional manifestations. The most common location of cardiac myxoma was in the left atrium, followed by the right atrium. Recurrent myxoma developed in 3 patients (2.7 %), and the mean time of recurrence was 55 ± 19.7. Hospital and long-term mortality were 2.2 % and 15.6 %, respectively.
Conclusion: Cardiac myxoma is the most common heart tumor with a low incidence. Surgical excision yields very good short and long-term outcomes with low recurrence rate after surgery, and remains the treatment of choice (Tab. 4, Fig. 2, Ref. 13). Text in PDF www.elis.sk Keywords: cardiac myxoma, cardiac tumor, recurrence, survival.