SURGICAL-TREATMENT OF LEFT-ATRIAL MYXOMA IN CARNEYS-COMPLEX

Although rare, cardiac myxomas are the most frequently encountered pri mary neoplasms of the heart. Cardiac myxomas are typically sporadic, b enign, non-recurrent tumors, and they are usually seen in the left atr ium. Patients who have myxoma-associated spotty pigmented skin lesions , endocrine neoplasms with overactivity, and noncardiac myxomatous tum ors are said to have Carney's complex. This report presents a 21-year- old woman with Carney's complex. She was operated for tetralogy of Fal lot and total correction was performed at another center when she was three years old. Two years ago, she was operated on for a primary pigm ented nodular adrenocortical tumor and bilateral adrenalectomy was per formed. Her present admission to our clinic was for left-atrial myxoma with associated symptoms. Patients with Carney's complex have distinc tive clinical features which separate them from the larger group of pa tients with the more common sporadic myxoma. The most important distin ction is that the myxoma syndrome appears to be a multisystem disease.