Are patients with neoplasia at an increased risk for cardiac myxomas?
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).
Suman
V J
VJ
Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905.
Tazelaar
H D
HD
Bailey
K
K
Melton
J
J
Longaker
M T
MT
Stern
R
R
Finkbeiner
W E
WE
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