Cardiac myxoma: A benign tumor of the heart and the most common type of heart tumor in adults. Cardiac myxomas can appear in an isolated case or in families, sometimes as part of an hereditary syndrome called the Carney complex. Some families have the Carney complex variant as well as the trismus-pseudocamptodactyly syndrome (Hecht syndrome). A mutation in the perinatal myosin heavy chain causes this Carney complex variant, suggesting that mutated contractile proteins play a role in the development of cardiac myxomas.
Background. The cardiac myxoma is a benign neoplasm arising within the heart. It is sometimes referred to as an atrial myxoma, since the vast majority arise within the ...
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a cardiac myxoma as a neoplasm composed of stellate to plump cytologically bland mesenchymal cells set in a myxoid ...
Myxomas are the most common primary cardiac tumours. A left atrial myxoma was first described in 1845.
Myxomas account for 40-50% of primary cardiac tumors. Approximately 90% are solitary and pedunculated, and 75-85% occur in the left atrial cavity.
Symptoms of a cardiac myxoma include [7]: Dyspnea on exertion; Paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea; Fever; Weight loss (see cachexia) Lightheadedness or syncope (Loss of consciousness)