Figure 2 - available via license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
Content may be subject to copyright.
Lung section-Moderately differentiated acinar adenocarcinoma, Grade II in the International Classification of Diseases (Hematoxylin-eosin stained). Figure 3. Slide of tumoral embolus material (Hematoxylin-eosin stained).
Source publication
A embolia arterial
periférica originada de tumores malignos é considerada uma manifestação
rara da doença neoplásica, podendo se originar de vários
sítios, incluindo coração, aorta e veias pulmonares, sendo
estas últimas, fontes massivas de embolia por trombo ou tumores com erosão
para seu lúmen. Apesar de infrequente, a neoplasia pulmonar dev...
Citations
Objectives
Acute lower limb ischemia caused by tumor embolization is rare, despite the fact that cancer is a common cause of hypercoagulability predisposing to venous thrombosis. Arterial embolization is mostly associated with intracardiac tumors while lung malignancies are the second most common cause of tumor embolism.
Methods
In this report, we present a male patient who developed acute bilateral lower limb ischemia in the immediate postoperative period after a thoracotomy for attempted left upper lobe resection for lung cancer.
Results
The patient was treated with a subclavian-bifemoral bypass, since an initial attempted embolectomy was unsuccessful. Histopathological characteristics of thrombus obtained during embolectomy were consistent with the histopathology of the primary tumor.
Conclusion
Acute ischemia is an emergency that should be diagnosed and treated immediately. Interestingly, in this case, the presence of epidural anesthesia masked the initial symptoms and delayed diagnosis. Preoperative assessment with transesophageal echocardiography may reveal patients at high risk for tumor embolism.
