Secondary polycythemia as a paraneoplastic syndrome of testicular seminoma.
A 45-year-old man was referred to our hospital because of polycythemia. A physical examination revealed a large tumor in his scrotum enlarged to the size of 13 x 10 cm. A laboratory examination revealed severe erythrocytosis with a red blood cell count of 6,820 x 10(9)/L, a hemoglobin concentration of 21.2 g/dL, and a hematocrit of 59.8%. The total red cell volume was increased. A right radical orchidectomy was done with minimum bleeding, and he was diagnosed as having pure seminoma. After the operation, polycythemia improved spontaneously. Polycythemia is a rare complication of seminoma and only two cases have been reported previously. The precise mechanism of polycythemia in our patient could not be clearly evaluated, but clinical course did indicate a close relationship between two distinct disorders.
Kaito
K
K
Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, The Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-19-18 Nishi Shinbashi, Minato-ku, 105-8471 Tokyo, Japan. ken.kaito@jikei.ac.jp
Otsubo
H
H
Usui
N
N
Kobayashi
M
M
D006403:Hematologic Tests; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009919:Orchiectomy; D010257:Paraneoplastic Syndromes / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D011086:Polycythemia / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology*; D018239:Seminoma / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome