title: [Spontaneous course of myxoma of the left atrium].
abstract: Little is known about the natural history of left intra-atrial myxomas. We report 3 cases of that disease where successive echocardiographic examinations provided figures of 11, 12 and 14 months respectively for the formation of the tumour in the left atrium. Echocardiography is perfectly reliable for the diagnosis of myxoma. False-negative results are rare and usually due to very small myxomas being beyond the resolution potential of the instrument; this seems to have been the case in 2 of our 3 patients. Two data, however, remain unknown: the beginning of formation and the rapidity of tumoral growth. These 3 cases raise the problem of repeat echocardiography some time after a cerebral accident of suspected embolic origin, when the initial examination is negative.
authors.affiliation: Service de cardiologie A, CHU Poitiers La Milétrie.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Allal
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coisne
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ciber
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Malin
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Christiaens
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Foullon
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barraine
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009232:Myxoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013997:Time Factors
vernacular_title: Evolution spontanée du myxome de l'oreillette gauche.