What are some of the potential risk factors associated with left atrial cardiac tumors?
Retrospective studies have shown increased risk of stroke with left-sided cardiac myxoma and papillary fibroelastoma. Atrial myxomas can occur in any cardiac chamber but are noted most frequently in the left atrium, adherent to the interatrial septum. In a single-center study of 323 patients after excision of a cardiac tumor, the odds ratio of embolism associated with left atrial tumors was 1.95 and higher (4.17) with aortic valve location. Tumor mobility and aortic valve location were independent predictors of embolic risk in a series of 725 patients with papillary fibroelastoma.