PMC3161672_01
Echocardiogram showing the tumour in the right heart occupying the whole right atrial area.
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Cardiac ultrasound and doppler examination (Fig. 1) disclosed a large tumour within the right ventricle and atrium.
Computerized scan tomography showing the large tumour in the heart occupying the right atrial space and almost occlusion of the pulmonary artery.
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Computerized scan tomography (CT) and whole body CT examination (Fig. 2) verified the intra-ventricular tumour and excluded malignancy at any other sites of the body.
Figure showing the opened heart showing the surface consisting of bony structures within the tumour.
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Post-mortem autopsy disclosed a large heart (640 g) with a large gelatinous hard tumour based at the right ventricular wall, 8 cm at length and 5-6 cm wide (Fig. 3). It had grown through the pulmonary trunk into the pulmonary artery filling almost the whole space of the right atrium (Fig. 3).
Microscopic examination disclosed bony structures (osteoid) within the tumour with no other mesenchyme structures present pointing to osteosarcoma (van Gieson; magnitude x 40).
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The tumour was mostly composed of atypical spindle cells with increased number of mitoses (Fig. 4).