ABSTRACT
A series of 12 cardiac myxomas were reviewed. Dyspnoea was the commonest presenting feature in all the cases. Six of the 12 cases had cardiac failure and one had cerebral embolism. All cases revealed diastolic murmurs, 2 cases had in addition systolic murmurs, while 'tumour plop' was heard in only two patients. ECG showed right axis deviation in 3 cases, a trial fibrillation in 2, and non-specific T wave changes in all cases. Chest X-ray revealed cardiomegaly with varying degree of UIV diversion. based on the clinical data the diagnosis of atrial myxoma could be made in only 2 cases, in the remaining 10 cases, 9 had the clinical diagnosis of mitral stenosis, and one as suffering from Ebstein's anomaly. Thus the clinical diagnosis of atrial myxoma remains a clinical challenge, and 2D Echocardiography is the single most helpful test