Cardiac Tumors: R. Review Based on 20 Cases

A total of 20 patients with cardiac tumor operated on at the Hacettepe University Medical Faculty and the Cardiology Institute, Istanbul Universty, during 1973-1989 were reported. Eighteen patients had primary cardiac tumors and two had metastatic tumors. Sixteen of the first group were benign and two were malignant. The most common clinical presentation was congestive heart failure. Indication for operation was established with echocardiography alone in three, cardiac catheterization plus echocardiography in five, and only cardiac catheterization in the rest of the patients. All cases were operated by cardiopulmonary bypass technique. In three, total circulatory arrest was also performed. Four (20 %) of these patients who had total or partial excision of the tumor, succumbed. In cardiac neoplasms which is a rare cardiac disease, echocardiography has an important place both in diagnosis and in postoperative evaluation. Surgical resection is the treatment of choice in primary cardiac tumors and long-term follow up is important in all cases.