Subacute cor pulmonale due to tumor embolism.
We describe a patient wih subacute cor pulmonale caused by tumor emboli in the lungs. A 64-year-old female suffering from a subacute progressive cough and shortness of breathing died of severe pulmonary hypertension seven days after admission. Neither chest CT scans nor lung perfusion scintigraphy showed any abnormal findings. Microscopic examination after an autopsy revealed diffuse intravascular tumor emboli occluding not only the small pulmonary arteries and arterioles, but also the lymphatic vessels, which were suggested to be metastases of a breast carcinoma resected five years previously. Thus, pulmonary tumor embolism should be considered in the differential diagnosis of primary pulmonary hypertension, particularly in patients with a past history of cancers.
Nakamura
Hiroyuki
H
Fifth Department of Internal Medicine, Tokyo Medical University, 3-20-1 Chuo Amicho, Inashiki-gun, Ibaraki 300-0395.
Adachi
Hideki
H
Sudoh
Akihiko
A
Yagyu
Hisanaga
H
Kishi
Koji
K
Oh-ishi
Shuji
S
Kusama
Hiroshi
H
Hashimoto
Toshio
T
Matsuoka
Takeshi
T
D001344:Autopsy; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000473:pathology*; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011660:Pulmonary Heart Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging / Q000379:methods; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed