Chondrosarcoma: a case report with left atrial involvement and systemic embolization

A 26-year-old white man underwent amputation of the right lower extremity for a chondrosarcoma of the distal femur. Eleven years later, after a long symptom-free interval, he was hospitalized for rapidly progressive dyspnea, pleuritic chest pain, and hemoptysis resulting from a large pulmonary metastasis that had extended directly to the left atrium via the pulmonary vein. Within 24 hours of hospitalization, obstruction of the left commom iliac artery by tumor embolus necessitated embolectomy. This represents the second report of a metastatic chondrosarcoma involving the left atrium. The case presented clinically as an atrial myxoma and disseminated via the systemic circulation with a rapidly downhill course therafter.