title: Chondrosarcoma presenting as dyspnea in a 19-year-old man: a case report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acute pulmonary embolism has varied presentations ranging from asymptomatic, incidentally discovered emboli to massive embolism, causing immediate death. Tumor embolism is a rare but unique complication of malignancies. This uncommon catastrophe of a malignant tumor in a young patient, culminating as a pulmonary embolism, is being reported for the first time.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Medical College Hospital, Trivandrum, Kerala, India. rajasekharanchandrasekharan@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rajasekharan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chandrasekharan
authors.forename: Mithun Chalakarayil
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Bhagavaldas
authors.forename: Ashish Jacob
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Mathew