Málaga Regional University Hospital has removed a cardiac tumour measuring approximately 11 centimetres from a patient who recovered favourably and was discharged after completing her recovery. The complex operation was carried out in June by the hospital’s Cardiovascular Surgery Department and completely removed a lesion that was unusual for its size, location and proximity to essential heart structures.
The tumour had developed from the myocardium, the heart muscle, and occupied a considerable area inside the pericardium, the membrane surrounding and protecting the heart. Its growth had compressed the right ventricle, which pumps blood to the lungs. The tumour also had a blood supply from vessels originating in the coronary arteries, making its removal more difficult.
During surgery, the team carefully dissected and removed the entire mass while preserving the heart’s structures and limiting the removal of healthy heart muscle. Afterward, the surgeons reconstructed the affected area to maintain the heart’s anatomy and function.
Enrique Ruiz, head of the Cardiovascular Surgery Department, said the case required precise planning and close coordination among the professionals involved. More than 11 people took part in the procedure, including cardiovascular surgeons, anaesthesia specialists, perfusion staff and nurses. Cardiology specialists had also carried out imaging beforehand to help plan the operation.
Cardiovascular surgeon Esteban Sarria said the main challenge was completely removing a large mass located close to essential heart structures and supplied by vessels from the coronary arteries. He said the operation required particularly careful dissection to preserve healthy heart tissue, followed by reconstruction of the affected area.
Cardiac tumours are uncommon, and tumours reaching the size seen in this case are even rarer. They can develop in different parts of the heart, and their growth may affect nearby structures and impair their function.
The hospital’s Cardiovascular Surgery Department began operating in 1980 and has since carried out more than 10,500 major heart operations on adult patients using cardiopulmonary bypass. Its work also includes heart surgery without bypass, vascular surgery, electrical stimulation and paediatric heart surgery. The department was a pioneer in Andalusia in endovascular treatment of aortic aneurysms and now performs more than 70 such procedures annually.
The department is also the provincial referral service for starting ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) therapy and transporting critically ill adults who need this support. Málaga Regional University Hospital is one of three national CSUR referral centres for the care and transport of paediatric patients requiring ECMO. Since the therapy began there in 2014, the team has treated children from Málaga and other provinces, including Badajoz, Huelva, Jaén, Almería and Granada.