Primary cardiac tumors: Experience with 30 consecutive patients since the introduction of two-dimensional echocardiography

F. Earl Fyke, James B. Seward, William D. Edwards, Fletcher A. Miller, Guy S. Reeder, Thomas T. Schattenberg, Clarence Shub, John A. Callahan, A. Jamil Tajik

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

121 Scopus citations

Abstract

Experience with 30 consecutive patients who had a total of 32 primary cardiac tumors and who underwent two-dimensional echocardiography examinations between January 1977 and June 1983 was reviewed. Most of the tumors were atrial myxomas (20 left and 4 right), and 30 were identified on echocardiography. Twenty-five patients, including 21 of 22 with atrial myxoma, underwent surgical resection on the basis of the echocardiographic examination, without preoperative angiocardiography. When the morphologic characteristics of the left atrial myxomas were studied statistically in relation to clinical abnormalities, large tumor size was most closely related to the number and type of associated clinical and laboratory abnormalities. The single exception was embolization, which correlated with echocardiography tumor consistency. Since the introduction of two-dimensional echocardiography, the yearly incidence of cardiac tumor diagnosis at this clinic has increased several fold and the incidence of unexpected intraoperative diagnosis has been very low (one case). Echocardiography is the method of choice for clinical diagnosis. It has replaced angiocardiography for routine preoperative assessment, permits early diagnosis of cardiac neoplasms and provides insight into the pathophysiology of primary cardiac tumors.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1465-1473
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of the American College of Cardiology
Volume5
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 1985

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Primary cardiac tumors: Experience with 30 consecutive patients since the introduction of two-dimensional echocardiography'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this