[Three cases of cardiac tumor; an approach to excise a large tumor in the left atrium].

Tumors originated from the heart are very rare disease and their clinicopathological state has not been fully recognized. Cardiac tumors are most frequently found in the left atrium. An initial treatment is a surgical excision of tumors entirely including their pedicles. And regardless of benign or malignant tumors, it is most important to remove them completely. However, a complete resection of cardiac tumors in the left atrium becomes more difficult in cases of larger sizes or wide expanding of the pedicles. In such cases, we recommend to choose a right-sided approach to the left atrium, so that it enables to be easier to examine all areas of the left atrium for a complete resection of cardiac tumors. We have excised successfully in three cases of larger cardiac tumors originated from the left atrium employing a right-sided left atriotomy.