Pulmonary artery intimal sarcomas are rare and lethal malignant tumors that typically affect larger vessels: the aorta, inferior vena cava, and pulmonary arteries. Since symptoms and imaging of pulmonary arterial intimal sarcomas mimic pulmonary thromboembolism, the differential diagnosis of a patient presenting with chest pain, dyspnea, and filling defect within the pulmonary arteries should include intimal sarcoma. Often right ventricular failure is observed due to pulmonary hypertension caused by the obstructive effect of the tumor and concomitant chronic thromboembolism. We report the case of a 72-year-old African-American male with arterial intimal sarcoma of the left and right pulmonary artery with extension through the right artery into the bronchus and right lung.
Inhalation abuse of various toxic agents continues to be a significant health problem among the younger segment of our society. We describe four cases of sudden death in adolescents associated with recreational sniffing of typewriter correction fluid occurring during the period 1979 through mid-1984. The solvents used in most of these fluids, 1,1,1-trichloroethane and trichloroethylene, are known to induce potentially fatal arrhythmias. Sniffing typewriter correction fluid poses a significant and underappreciated danger to the lives of these abusers. School health officials, public health departments, and law enforcement personnel should be alerted to the need for surveillance of this type of activity.
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