Six Years Clinical Experience and Surgical Considerations in Management of Cardiac Myxoma in Iraqi Center for Heart Disease—Single Center Experience

Background: Cardiac myxomas are the most frequently encountered benign cardiac tumors that if left untreated are inexorably progressive and potential-ly fatal. Surgery is the only way of treatment, and if not treated with the right surgical technique recurrence occurs. Objectives: In this single center study we documented the patterns of presentation, localization, surgical approaches and outcome of cardiac myxomas. Methods: This is a retrospective study of 20 patients who underwent surgical removal of atrial myxoma from January 2010 to December 2015. All patients underwent general investigations, and echocardiography was performed on all patients and surgery was done using extracorporeal circulation and mild hypothermia. Results: The ages of the patients ranged from 14 years to 71 years, with a mean of 51.45 years. Most myxomas (75%) originated from left atrium, 20% from right atrium and bi-atrial in 5% of cases. The male-to-female ratio was 1:2.3 (14 females and 6 males). Myxomas were more common in blood group A+ and Conclusions: Cardiac myxoma excision account for a very small percentage of cardiac procedures. Immediate surgical treatment is indicated because of high risk of embolization and sudden death. Cardiac myxomas can be excised with a low rate of mortality and morbidity. Follow-up examination, including echocardiography, should be performed regularly.