This report summarizes our ten-year experience with atrial myxomas. Of the 17 patients who underwent resection of left atrial myxoma between January 2000 and December 2009, 11 were females and 6 males, and their mean age was 53.47±17.4 years. There was history of a cerebral emboli in 2 patients. All myxomas were located in the left atrium. For tumor resection left atriotomy was used in 16 patients, while transseptal approach was used in one patient with foramen ovale. No early or late mortality was observed. The patients were followed regularly with annual echocardiography in the follow up period. No recurrence was noted in the follow up period. Immediate surgical treatment should be performed after the diagnosis to prevent the risk of embolization and sudden cardiac death. Periodic controls with annual echocardiographic examinations are mandatory since early or late recurrence is possible in these tumors.
Keywords: Echocardiography, myxoma, left atrium
