Long-term survival of quiescent left atrial myxoma in an elderly patient.
Left atrial myxoma, if left untreated, is inexorably progressive and usually fatal. The classical management of this disease is prompt surgical removal. However, there may be exceptions to this traditional dogma. The authors report an 85-year-old man who presented with features of chronic obstructive airway disease and congestive heart failure 15 years previously. Auscultation of the heart showed a pansystolic murmur. Two-dimensional echocardiography revealed a nonobstructive, calcified, and well circumscribed mass in the left atrium, with a pedicle attached to the interatrial septum. Because the patient refused high-risk cardiac surgery related to his comorbidity, he was managed medically with a bronchodilator, diuretics, and digoxin. There have been no features of embolism or intracardiac obstruction, and serial echocardiography demonstrates no disease progression over this long period of time. This case illustrates that calcified left atrial myxoma may exhibit a quiescent phase. Tumor calcification, slow growth potential, and the absence of intracardiac obstruction may correlate with a better outcome in the elderly patient.
Kay
Jay F L
JF
Cardiac Medical Unit, University of Hong Kong, Grantham Hospital, Aberdeen, Hong Kong. flkay@netvigator.com
Chow
Wing Hing
WH
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001993:Bronchodilator Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000150:complications*; D004077:Digoxin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004232:Diuretics / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006325:Heart Atria; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009232:Myxoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy; D017741:Survivors
D001993:Bronchodilator Agents; D004232:Diuretics; D004077:Digoxin