A Case of Left Atrial Myxosarcoma Necessitating Extensive Resection With Reconstruction

A 20-year-old female with a left atrial tumor which was found by echocardiography developed cardiac tamponade and transferred to our hospital for urgent operation. Complete surgical resection of the tumor with 3/4 the left atrial wall, 1/2 atrial septum and 1/2 right atrial wall was performed because its macroscopic findings were malignant. Therefore extended reconstruction was made by using Dacron fabric sheet including reanastomosis of all pulmonary veins. Pathological diagnosis of this tumor was myxosarcoma. Neither cardiac dysfunction nor severe arrhythmia was observed in postoperative course. She completely returned to work two month later, but had recurrence with lung metastasis four month later and died eleven month after operation in spite of chemotherapy. The prognosis of cardiac malignant tumors is poor, because some clinical manifestations first call for the treatment. Like this case, operative procedure can provide complete rehabilitation, even if it is temporary, in that we would call attention to the significance of this surgical procedure.