title: A primary cardiac sarcoma preoperatively presented as a benign left atrial myxoma.
abstract: Primary cardiac sarcomas are extremely rare. We report a case of a primary cardiac sarcoma with myxoid change, which originally presented as a benign cardiac myxoma on a two- dimensional echocardiogram. On operating, the mass was found to extend into the posterior left atrial wall, the left pulmonary vein, and the mitral valve. The patient underwent wide resection of the left atrium, a mitral valve replacement and a left pneumonectomy. The histological diagnosis was of an undifferentiated primary cardiac sarcoma. The patient had postoperative chemotherapy. The patient expired 11 months after surgery due to a recurrence of the cardiac sarcoma. Although most tumors that develop in the left atrium are benign myxomas, we should make a preoperative differential diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Inha University Hospital, 7-206 Shinheung-dong, 3ga, Jung-gu, Inchon 400-103, Korea. jtkim@inha.ac.kr
authors.forename: Joung-Taek
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Wan-Ki
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.forename: Kwang-Ho
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yong-Han
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Dae-Hyuk
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyun-Kyoung
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Lim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D009232:Myxoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D014463:Ultrasonography