ABSTRACT
Arising from various tissues in the heart or heart valves, primary cardiac tumors consist of three categories: benign tumor and tumor-like lesions, malignant tumors, and pericardial tumors. Patients with benign cardiac tumors often display clinical symptoms related to extracardiac, intramyocardial, or intracavitary abnormalities. Imaging procedures, namely echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) are commonly used for diagnosis and differentiation of benign and malignant cardiac tumors. Standard treatment for primary benign cardiac tumors is excision, that for primary malignant cardiac tumors is palliation, and that for metastatic cardiac tumors may include systemic chemotherapy or palliation, pacemaker implantation, anti-arrhythmic drugs, and possibly surgical excision. Surgery is usually curative for benign primary tumors of the heart, with a 3-year survival rate of 95". However, multifocal rhabdomyomas or fibromas of the heart have poor prognosis, with a 5-year survival rate of 15", as surgical excision is usually ineffective.
