[Cardiac metastasis of chondrosarcoma: a case report]

Chondrosarcoma is a primary malignant bone tumour which only exceptionally metastasises to the heart. We report a case of chondrosarcoma with left intracavitary cardiac metastasis discovered following abnormal cardiac auscultation. To our knowledge, only 21 cases have been described in the literature. A lesion of the right atrium is the most frequent event. The major risk of these tumours is their emboligenic properties: pulmonary embolism for metastases of the right heart, systemic embolism for metastases of the left heart. Echocardiography establishes the diagnosis by specifying the site and extent of the tumour. CT scan allows local assessment of the lesions. The course is fatal, although surgery has been able to increase survival of patients with isolated cardiac mestastases.