Rare Procedure Used to Remove Heart Tumors

In a procedure that doctors say has only been performed twice before, surgeons at the Methodist DeBakey Heart Center (Houston, TX, USA) have successfully removed a patient's heart, cut three tumors from it, repaired the holes with bovine tissue, and then replaced the heart in the chest of the patient, who is doing well.

The operation was necessary because the tumors were attached to the wall of the left atrium inside the patient's heart. The tumors were partially obstructing blood flow through the heart, causing symptoms of congestive heart failure. If allowed to grow any larger, the tumors could have totally blocked the flow of blood to the rest of the body. A heart transplant was the only alternative before the doctors decided to operate, and the wait for a donor heart could have been long.

During the operation, a machine pumped the woman's blood while medication stopped her heart. Dr. Michael Reardon, a heart surgeon and professor surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, removed the heart and placed it in a bowl of iced saline solution. After removing the malignant tumors, one as large as a lemon, Dr. Reardon repaired the holes with tissue from a cow's heart. Unlike a heart transplant, the procedure avoided the need for antirejection drugs.



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