Concomitant pulmonary thromboembolism and metallic mercury embolism. A diagnostic dilemma

The concomitant occurrence of mercury emboli and thromboemboli of the lung has not been previously reported. We describe the case of an intravenous drug abuser with chest pain and newly discovered mercury emboli in the lung who was found to have a thromboembolus in the right pulmonary artery. An echocardiogram showed metallic density in the right ventricle, which has not been demonstrated previously.