Left atrial myxoma: two dimensional echocardiographic diagnosis.

Intra-cavitary cardiac tumours are rare and a high index of suspicion is required on the part of the physician to make the clinical diagnosis. With the advent of two dimensional real time echocardiography this diagnosis can be easily and rapidly confirmed. Over the past two decades M-mode echocardiography has been widely used for the diagnosis of left atrial myxomas. Though it has been shown to be highly satisfactory, in a small group of patients with small immobile tumours M-mode echocardiography may be normal 1 and two dimensional real time echocardiography would be needed to establish the diagnosis. This case report illustrates the use of echocardiography in the diagnosis of a left atrial myxoma but it may be inferred that other intra-cavitary cardiac tumours (primary or secondary) and thrombi can be easily visualised with two dimensional real time echocardiography.