Objective  To investigate the clinical features and summarize our experience of surgical treatment in primary cardiac tumors.   Methods  Clinical data of 129 patients with primary cardiac tumors admitted in our center from 1980 to August 2009 and underwent surgical treatment were analyzed retrospectively. Their age ranged from 1 year to 79 years

38 of them were males

and the course of disease was from 1 month to 12 years. The clinical symptoms included tachypnea after exertion

low-grade fever

anemia

embolism limb

and so on. The diagnosis was identified by echocardiography pre-operation and by pathological test post-operation. One hundred and twenty-seven of them underwent tumorectomy through extracorporeal circulation. The cold crystal cardioplegia solution

cold blood cardioplegia solution

and on-pump beating heart were used to protect the myocardium during operation. The left 2 patients with cardiac-sarcoma were operated on with exploratory thoracotomy.   Results  The primary cardiac tumors in this group included 117 myxoma (105 left atrial myxoma

8 right atrial myxoma

2 mitral valve myxoma

and 2 multiple myxoma)

6 rhabdomyoma

1 lipoma

2 capillary hemangioma

1 leiomyoma

and 2 sarcoma. One patient was dead of low cardiac output syndrome in 3 d post-operation. The rest 128 were discharged with no any complication. There was no death and recurrent of cardiac tumor during a follow-up of 2 months to 10 years in tumorectomy group.   Conclusion  Cardiac myxoma is most common in primary cardiac tumors

and emergency or subemergency operation should be performed as soon as the diagnosis is made. The other types of primary cardiac tumors need to be operated

and significant improvement of heart function will be obtained after surgery.