Surgical treatment for cardiac rhabdomyomas in children

Abstract

Cardiac rhabdomyomas are the most common cardiac tumor in children. These tumors may cause obstruction to blood flow, valvular insufficiency, and cardiac arrhythmias. We present two cases of cardiac rhabdomyomas in infants that were managed surgically and review the literature. Without surgical intervention, the prognosis for symptomatic cardiac rhabdomyomas is dismal, with eventual death likely due to heart failure or arrhythmias. As our two cases indicate, surgical treatment may improve this prognosis. Pediatric cardiac rhabdomyomas should be resected when the tumors cause hemodynamic compromise or cardiac arrhythmias.