Primary cardiac tumors: history, current approaches and methods of surgical treatment

Primary cardiac tumors are rare pathologies, with the incidence ranging from 0.0017 to 0.02%. In spite of this fact the mortality rate due to cardiac tumors is still high. Early diagnosis and urgent surgical resection are known to be the best approaches which reduce the risk of embolic events and heart failure progression. The history and current surgical approaches for primary cardiac tumors are reviewed in detail.