Diagnosis of tumor embolus to the pulmonary artery by transesophageal echocardiography.

This article describes a patient with renal cell carcinoma and massive tumor extension into the inferior vena cava who experienced sudden tachypnea and subsequent cardiopulmonary arrest. Transesophageal echocardiography was used to diagnose a massive tumor embolus to the pulmonary artery that was subsequently confirmed at autopsy. Transesophageal echocardiography provided a rapid bedside diagnosis of this unusual entity in an acutely ill patient. This technique may prove more widely applicable in the evaluation of patients with suspected pulmonary embolus, whether neoplastic or thromboembolic.