The impact of preoperative imaging for atypical atrial myxoma locations

Background:

Atrial myxomas are the most common primary cardiac neoplasm. The majority (75%–80%) are located in the left atrium at the base of the foramen ovalis. Surgical removal can prevent dangerous obstructive or thromboembolic sequelae.

Hypothesis:

Atypically located tumors may present technical challenges requiring case‐specific surgical adaptations when visualization or surrounding cardiac structures are compromised.

Methods:

We describe 3 cases of atypically located atrial myxomas that required preoperative transesophageal echocardiography and computed tomography to afford the optimal surgical approach.

Conclusions:

These cases highlight the potential need for multimodality imaging of atypically located atrial myxomas to determine the optimal technical approach for excision. Clin. Cardiol. 2012 doi: 10.1002/clc.22027 The authors have no funding, financial relationships, or conflicts of interest to disclose.