[Atrial myxoma. Report of eight surgical cases, four with electron microscopy study (author's transl)].

From 1970 to 1979 we studied and operated on 8 patients with atrial myxoma, 7 females and 1 male, 24 to 58 years of age. Symptoms had been present for 4 to 24 months prior to surgery. Five patients were functional class IV (NYHA), 2 class III and one class I. All patients were studied by catheterization and angiography. The diagnosis was suspected from physical findings in 3 patients and was not made before surgery in 2 cases. The tumor was located at the left atrium in 6 patients and the right atrium in 2. Electron microscopy performed in 4 cases revealed the typical findings of myxomatous tissue. Adequate resection under extracorporeal circulation was possible in all subjects. One female who was in severe congestive heart failure died shortly after operation. The survivors did well, remaining functional class I, one to nine years after surgery.