title: [Diagnosis and results of treatment of heart myxoma].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Myxoma is the most common benign primary cardiac neoplasm, and usually originates from the left atrial septum. Early diagnosis of cardiac myxomas depends on a high index of a clinical suspicion. Surgical management must be done as soon as possible after diagnosis. The aim of this retrospective study was to present diagnostics and treatment outcome data of 61 patients with cardiac myxoma treated in the Military Medical Academy, Belgrade during a 49-years period.
  
  
  METHODS
  Intra-hospital diagnosis was established in all the patients by the cardiologist. Diagnostic methods were various, in dependence on the examination period and suspected diagnosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Within a 49-years period (1961-2009) heart myxoma was diagnozed and treated in 61 patients in the Military Medical Academy, Belgrade. Most of the operated patients were females (38 or 62.3%). The operated patients were 19-68 years old. Average age of all the patients was 47.9%. The great majority of them (98.4%) had atrial, and only one operated patient had ventricular myxoma. In 13 (21.3%) of the patients heart myxoma was found out accidentally due to no previous cardiologic symptomatology. In most patients (27.44%) symptomatology was presented as thromboembolic disease. Because of the suspected ventricular myxoma in one patient, the patient was operated on, but Hodgkin's lymphoma was found out which, according to the subsequent course of the disease, could be justifiably recognized as primary heart lymphoma. This study presented brief descriptions of the course of the disease in 4 patients with myxomas in each of the cardiac cavities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The only diagnostic difficulty in cardiac myxoma is due to its asymptomatic and oligosymptomatic presence within the longer period of time, namely, its growth period. Echocardiography should be the standard method of cardiologic examination of these patients, which could considerably contribute to early diagnosis and treatment of heart myxoma. Surgical extirpation of myxoma is the only and very successful therapeutic method.
authors.affiliation: Vojnomedicinska akademija, Klinika za urgentnu internu medicinu, Beograd, Srbija.
authors.forename: Saso
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rafajlovski
authors.forename: Radoje
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ilić
authors.forename: Branko
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gligić
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kanjuh
authors.forename: Vujadin
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tatić
authors.forename: Andjelka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ristić
authors.forename: Slobodan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Obradović
authors.forename: Radomir
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Matunović
authors.forename: Biljana
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Prcović
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009232:Myxoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D055815:Young Adult