Atrial myxoma: a treatable cause of stroke.

Atrial myxoma: a review of the neurological complications, metastases, and recurrences

“…Bone infarcts after vascular occlusions have been asymptomatic but are typical in radiographs (Kimbrell and Kaasa, 1973;Read et al, 1974). In our patient, the bone lesions have been documented since 1968 (Maroon and Campbell, 1968;Nasser et al, 1972) and still have not become symptomatic.…”

“…It is clear, now that more about this enigmatic neoplasm becomes known, that much more care has been taken during cardiac surgery to avoid embolisation, not only because of the embolic phenomenon itself but because viable metastases may become symptomatic many years later, and that the patient with cerebral embolisation is not necessarily cured (Maroon and Campbell, 1968) after the primary tumour is removed.…”

Atrial myxoma presenting with cerebral haemorrhage

“…One patient (Roeltgen et al, 1981) had previously undergone cardiac surgery for myxoma, and in 2 (Price et al, 1970;Steinmetz et al, 1973) haemorrhage as the primary presentation of left atrial myxoma. The importance of histological examination of evacuated material is stressed (Maroon & Campbell 1969), and was diagnostic in our case, revealing a fragment of myxoma within one of several abnormal vascular channels. These may represent ectasia secondary to infiltrating myxoma, although this was not specifically identified.…”

Case report 689

“…This report represents the 23-year follow-up of a metastatic left atrial myxoma first diagnosed and described in the literature in 1968 [5]. This patient now has documented metastases to the brain and to multiple bones.…”