Primary Osteoid Chondrosarcoma of the Lung: Report of a Case

Abstract

The incidence of primary sarcoma of the lung is admittedly rare. In fact, the authenticity of its occurrence was a subject for controversy until very recent years. The report of an osteoid chondrosarcoma of the lung, a form of sarcoma that has not yet been recorded, is therefore of interest. Report of a Case History I. K., a married woman, thirty-five years of age, was admitted to the medical service of Dr. B. S. Oppenheimer, of the Mount Sinai Hospital, on Jan. 30, 1929. She complained of occasional dull precordial pain radiating to the left deltoid region, of five months' duration. Shortly after the onset of this pain she was ill for about six weeks with fever and sharp pain in the lower left chest, aggravated by respiration. There was no cough, expectoration, or dyspnea. After two weeks of convalescence there developed attacks of dizziness and nausea on arising from bed. During the next three weeks the temperature varied between 99.5° P. and 101° F., and the patient became progressively weaker. Three days before entering the hospital she expectorated blood-streaked sputum for the first time. On physical examination the following essential findings were noted: The heart was slightly enlarged to the left, and a low-pitched diastolic murmur was heard, localized just to the left of the sternum in the fourth and fifth intercostal spaces. The second pulmonic sound was louder than the second aortic sound. In the region of the left lower lobe the percussion note was dull. Breath sounds were roughened, and a few fine râles were heard over the left upper lobe. Roentgen studies revealed an infiltration in this lobe, and a shadow at the hilus interpreted as a large lymph node.