Surgery of left atrial myxomas

A myxoma is a benign tumor of the connective tissue that often occurs in the heart. It can sometimes lead to strokes, vascular occlusions or embolisms.

In the case of this 28-year-old male patient, this tumor caused a stroke one year before surgery.

Surgical technique:

A minimally invasive, totally endoscopic procedure was used to remove the myxoma, which was located in the left ventricle (in the left heart chamber). The patient was connected to the heart-lung machine via the femoral vessels (groin). A so-called heart port endoclamp system, i.e. an inflatable balloon, was then inserted into the aorta via the femoral vessels to stop the blood flow to the heart and to stop the heart with a solution containing potassium.

The instruments and the endoscopic camera were introduced through three accesses in the intercostal spaces (spaces between the ribs). A double-lumen lung catheter caused a controlled collapse of the right lung. This gave the surgeon a free surgical field. The tumor was successfully removed after the left ventricle was opened.

Result :

There were no complications and the patient was discharged after three days with excellent cosmetic results. After the operation, he had no large scar on his chest, no bone strain and therefore much less pain.

Special cardio-surgical endoscopy devices such as surgical robots are extremely costly and require a lot of space, which is why our team used conventional endoscopy instruments from general surgery for the first time. However, this procedure can only be used in selected patients.