Cancer of the heart

摘要

Maria, all of nine years old, was complaining of pain in her leg and trouble breathing when she lay flat. The doctors who had arrived before me discovered an alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma originating in her calf, so the diagnostic imperative was to rule out secondary spread to the lungs. To everyone's surprise, the CT scan showed no pulmonary metastases. But on some of the axial images, something about Maria's heart just didn't look right. So we ordered an echocardiogram.