HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Massimo A. Padalino Gaetano Thiene Giovanni Stellin Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Padalino, M. A. Articles by Stellin, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Padalino, M. A. Articles by Stellin, G. Related Collections Cardiac - other

J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2005;129:1358-1363
© 2005 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Surgery for Congenital Heart Disease

Surgically treated primary cardiac tumors in early infancy and childhood

^a Division of Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Padova Medical School, Padova, Italy.
^b Institute of Pathology, University of Padova Medical School, Padova, Italy.
^c Department of Pediatrics, University of Padova Medical School, Padova, Italy.

Received for publication June 4, 2004; revisions received September 20, 2004; accepted for publication October 11, 2004.

^_* Address for reprints: Cristina Basso, MD, PhD, Institute of Pathology, University of Padova Medical School, Via A. Gabelli, 61 35121 Padova, Italy. (Email: cristina.basso{at}unipd.it).

OBJECTIVE: Primary heart tumors in childhood are rare and mostly benign. Surgical treatment is advocated when symptoms or hemodynamic impairment is present.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 1986 and 2003, 8 children (3 males and 5 females, age ranging 5 days to 6.7 years, median 78 days) with a clinical diagnosis of cardiac mass were treated with surgery. Diagnosis was made by prenatal echocardiography in 3 patients and by 2-dimensional Doppler echocardiography in 5 patients.

RESULTS: Complete surgical excision of the cardiac mass was feasible in all but 1 patient who underwent orthotopic heart transplantation. Surgical pathology examination revealed myxoma in 2 patients, fibroma in 2 patients, rhabdomyoma in 2 patients (multiple in 1), hamartoma in 1 patient, and teratoma in 1 patient. One patient died of cerebral malignancy 38 months after cardiac transplantation. At a mean follow-up of 69.2 months (range 3–190 months), all the remaining patients are asymptomatic, with good ventricular function on 2-dimensional echocardiography and no signs of residual or recurrent tumor.

CONCLUSION: Surgical excision of obstructive cardiac tumors in childhood is safely feasible. Heart transplantation may represent the only therapeutic option when the tumor extensively invades the ventricular walls. Although 2-dimensional echocardiography remains a reliable diagnostic tool, a definite diagnosis of tumor histotype requires a thorough histopathologic characterization.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. Gasparovic, V. Coric, D. Milicic, G. Rajsman, I. Burcar, R. Stern-Padovan, and I. Jelic Left Ventricular Fibroma Mimicking an Acute Coronary Syndrome Ann. Thorac. Surg., November 1, 2006; 82(5): 1891 - 1892. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]