title: Atrial myxomas grow faster than we think.
abstract: The finding of a cardiac myxoma usually implies immediate consequent surgical excision to prevent embolic events. Reports with documented growth rate are therefore very rare, and the actual growth rate remains a controversial issue. We report the growth of a left atrial myxoma in an asymptomatic 65-year-old patient with several years of follow up for aortic valve disease. A MEDLINE search with the terms "cardiac myxoma and tumor growth" was performed. The calculated growth rate showed an average growth rate of 0.49 cm/month. These reports suggest that the growth rate of myxomas may be faster than is usually thought.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Admiraal De Ruyter Ziekenhuis, Vlissingen, The Netherlands. j.walpot@adrz.nl
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walpot
authors.forename: Bharati
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shivalkar
authors.forename: Inez
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rodrigus
authors.forename: W Hans
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Pasteuning
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hokken
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D009232:Myxoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging