[Atrial myxoma in the patients of a general and internal medicine outpatient clinic].

In a medical out-patient clinic, over a period of several years, atrial myxoma was diagnosed in four patients with ages ranging between 32 and 69 years. With the exception of one patient referred for assessment of ventricular premature beats, presentation was not primarily attributable to cardiac causes. In all patients, there was a latency period of years between the onset of symptoms and establishment of the diagnosis. The history of patients with atrial myxoma includes symptoms such as dizziness, syncope, transient cerebral ischemia, weight loss and malaise. The differential diagnosis may encompass consideration of neoplastic disease since laboratory findings can reveal evidence of an inflammatory reaction, accelerated sedimentation rate, anemia, abnormal electrophoresis, hypoproteinemia as well as elevated alkaline phosphatase. One patient had undergone numerous examinations to rule out the presence of malignant disease. Symptoms related to the cardiovascular system include exertional dyspnea, premature beats, tachyarrhythmias and nonspecific chest pain. Auscultatory findings are consistent with those of mitral stenosis. M-mode and two-dimensional echocardiography established the diagnosis in all patients and confirmed the usefullness of this examination technique in the assessment of patients in a general medical clinic.