%0 Journal Article
%T Chondrosarcoma presenting as dyspnea in a 19-year-old man: a case report
%A Rajasekharan Chandrasekharan
%A Mithun Bhagavaldas
%A Ashish Mathew
%J Journal of Medical Case Reports
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1752-1947-5-150
%X A 19-year-old Asian man presented to the emergency service at our hospital with acute onset dyspnea. His clinical examination led to the suspicion of an acute pulmonary embolism with a lower lumbosacral radiculopathy. A magnetic resonance imaging scan of the pelvis demonstrated a chondrosarcoma arising from the right iliac wing, eroding into the common iliac vein and creeping up the inferior vena cava to lodge in the pulmonary artery, thus producing a saddle embolus.The importance of exploring for malignancies in the event of an idiopathic pulmonary embolism is highlighted. Early detection of such malignancies can substantially affect the outcome in young patients.Detached thrombi or tumour may be the cause for massive pulmonary embolism in patients with malignancies. Identification of the type of pulmonary embolism is cardinal as the treatment and prognosis vary considerably. We report an unusual presentation of a tumour embolism in a young man, who succumbed to the disease.A 19-year-old Asian man, was admitted to the emergency services (ES) at our hospital with acute onset of severe breathlessness following a short duration of dry cough, without any associated fever, chest pain or hemoptysis. He also had lower-back pain and right lower limb weakness with paresthesia, which was attributed to an injury sustained while playing football. He was prescribed analgesics and advised by an orthopedic surgeon to take bed rest for his lower limb ailment. His lower-back radiograph was normal. On examination at the ES, he had tachypnea and tachycardia with elevated jugular venous pressure and was normotensive with no pallor or pedal edema. His cardiovascular system examination revealed a loud second heart sound and a right ventricular third heart sound. His respiratory system examination was normal. The examination of his nervous system was suggestive of a right lower lumbosacral (L3-S1) radiculopathy. A moderate, tender hepatomegaly was detected in abdominal palpation. His oxy
%U http://www.jmedicalcasereports.com/content/5/1/150