title: Are patients with neoplasia at an increased risk for cardiac myxomas?
abstract: A case-control study was undertaken to assess whether a significant association exists between the presence of a neoplasm or malignancy and the presence of a cardiac myxoma. We identified 13 patients seen at our institution between 1935 and 1990 whose autopsies revealed a cardiac myxoma that was undetected during the patient's lifetime. For each patient four control subjects were selected among the autopsied patients who had never had a cardiac myxoma; these were matched for age at death, gender, and year of autopsy. The institutional medical records and autopsy reports revealed that 46% of the patients and 65% of their controls had a neoplasm diagnosed prior to or at autopsy. The estimated odds ratio was 0.34 (95% confidence interval, 0.05 to 1.84). There was insufficient evidence to conclude that an association exists between the presence of a neoplasm and the presence of a cardiac myxoma (P = .2722).
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905.
authors.forename: V J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Suman
authors.forename: H D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Tazelaar
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Melton
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Longaker
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Finkbeiner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002102:Cadaver; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009232:Myxoma / Q000473:pathology*; D016609:Neoplasms, Second Primary; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012307:Risk Factors