Massive pulmonary tumor emboli in a sarcoma. An unusual cause of sudden death

Although metastatic spread of tumor to the lungs is common, massive pulmonary tumor emboli are very unusual. Most tumor emboli originate from epithelial-derived tumors. Only a few cases of pulmonary embolism from sarcomata have been reported. We herein describe the case of a 36-year-old woman who died suddenly due to massive pulmonary tumor emboli from a retroperitoneal malignant mesenchymoma. We believe this is the first case report of a mesenchymoma causing sudden death due to massive tumor embolism.