Serial MRI of cerebral infarcts before and after removal of an atrial myxoma

We describe a cerebral infarct caused by atrial myxoma. A 30-year-old woman with an atrial myxoma presented with a right hemisensory deficit. MRI carr ied out before and after removal of the myxoma, showed multiple small bilat eral white-matter infarcts which increased in number up to the surgery. A. lesion in the left thalamus, which enlarged and showed contrast enhancement 4 months before surgery, resembled an old cerebral infarct by the time the myxoma was removed. The number of lesions stopped increasing after surgery . We suggest that atrial myxomas should be removed even in asymptomatic pat ients, to prevent cerebral infarcts due to embolism of tumour or thrombus.