title: Intracavitary melanoma of the left atrium.
abstract: A 32-year-old man was seen with shortness of breath and increasing fatigue. Echocardiography revealed an intracavitary mass occupying the entire left atrium. The lesion was resected using cardiopulmonary bypass and found to be a large malignant melanoma. This case represents the rare occasion in which antemortem diagnosis of malignant melanoma within left atrium permitted successful palliative surgical resection. The patient is alive and active 6 months after operation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York, Buffalo 14203.
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Canver
authors.forename: T Z
authors.initials: TZ
authors.lastname: Lajos
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bernstein
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: DuBois
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Mentzer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006325:Heart Atria; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000556:secondary