CARDIAC METASTASES OF CHONDROSARCOMA - A CASE-REPORT

Chondrosarcoma is a primary malignant bone tumour which only exception ally metastasises to the heart. We report a case of chondrosarcoma wit h left intracavitary cardiac metastasis discovered following abnormal cardiac auscultation. To our knowledge, only 21 cases have been descri bed in the literature. A lesion of the right atrium is the most freque nt event. The major risk of these tumours is their emboligenic propert ies: pulmonary embolism for metastases of the right heart, systemic em bolism 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.