Digital ischemia and occult malignancy

Severe digital ischemia coexists with thrombocytopenia in malignancy-associated antiphospholipid syndrome: A case report and review of literature

BACKGROUND

Paraneoplastic syndromes are characterized by atypical clinical manifestations. Several reports of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) paraneoplastic phenomena have been reported. They usually manifest as one type in an individual, but it is not common for the two clinical manifestations to occur simultaneously.

CASE SUMMARY

A 52-year-old female patient was admitted to hospital with pale skin and numbness of the second to fifth fingers in the left hand, which rapidly developed into severe digital ischemia. Computed tomography angiography revealed uneven thickness of the left ulnar artery with severe local luminal stenosis. Blood analysis during hospitalization showed persistent mild to medium thrombocytopenia and insensitive to hormonal therapy. Antiphospholipid antibody testing showed high titer of IgG anticardiolipin antibodies (aCLs), IgA aCLs, IgG anti-β2-glycoprotein-I (anti-β2 GPI), and IgA anti-β2 GPI. The exact diagnosis was HCC when the high a-fetoprotein levels, computed tomography findings, and the history of chronic hepatitis B came together. This was a rare case of coexisting manifestations as presenting symptoms of malignancy-associated antiphospholipid syndrome. The patient underwent several operations, antithrombotic treatments and hormonal therapy. However, the patient refused chemotherapy and died 8 wk after diagnosis.

CONCLUSION

This report highlights the importance of atypical clinical changes that could alert the physicians to vigilance for a concomitant underlying malignancy.

Digital ischaemia aetiologies and mid-term follow-up: A cohort study of 323 patients

Upper extremity digital ischaemia (UEDI) is a rare heterogeneous condition whose frequency is 40 times less than that of toe ischaemia. Using a large cohort, the aim of this study was to evaluate aetiologies, prognosis and midterm clinical outcomes of UEDI.All patients with UEDI with or without cutaneous necrosis in a university hospital setting between January 2000 to December 2016 were included. Aetiologies, recurrence of UEDI, digital amputation and survival were analyzed retrospectively.Three hundred twenty three patients were included. UEDI due to cardio-embolic disease (DICE) was the highest occurring aetiology with 59 patients (18.3%), followed by DI due to Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) (16.1%), idiopathic causes (11.7%), Thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO) (9.3%), iatrogenic causes (9.3%), and cancer (6.2%). DICE patients tended to be older and featured more cases with arterial hypertension whereas TAO patients smoked more tobacco and cannabis. During follow-up, recurrences were significantly more frequent in SSc than in all other tested groups (P < .0001 vs idiopathic and DICE, P = .003 vs TAO) and among TAO patients when compared to DICE patients (P = .005). The cumulated rate of digital amputation was higher in the SSc group (n = 18) (P = .02) and the TAO group (n = 7) (P = .03) than in DICE (n = 2).This retrospective study suggests that main aetiologies of UEDI are DICE, SSc and idiopathic. This study highlights higher frequency of iatrogenic UEDI than previous studies. UEDI associated with SSc has a poor local prognosis (amputations and recurrences) and DICE a poor survival. UEDI with SSc and TAO are frequently recurrent.

[Acral necrosis in metastatic ovarian carcinoma. A single episode of Moschowitz syndrome during gemcitabine chemotherapy]

For some time now, there have been reports of acral necrosis as a paraneoplasia that may occur in association with a number of different malignant tumours. There have also been a series of reports about acral necrosis associated with chemotherapy with various cytostatics. The treatment of choice if these lesions occur is plasmapheresis. Ultimately, the occurrence of thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) can only be prevented by close monitoring through regular laboratory controls before each new cycle of chemotherapy. In the differential diagnosis, Raynaud's syndrome should be considered as a premonitory paraneoplasia, a risk factor for the occurrence of acral necrosis in patients with a malignant tumour undergoing chemotherapy, particularly patients with ovarian carcinoma receiving gemcitabine treatment.

Severe digital ischemia–a presenting symptom of malignancy–associated antiphospholipid syndrome

The association of the antiphospholipid syndrome with malignancy has been extensively reported. Raynaud’s phenomenon has also been reported to be associated with various malignancies. In this report, we describe two patients who presented with severe digital ischemia mimicking Raynaud’s phenomenon. The patients were found to have antiphospholipid syndrome, and upon extensive evaluation, a diagnosis of a malignancy was made. This report highlights the importance of malignancy workup in patients with severe digital ischemia associated with antiphospholipid syndrome.

Digital necrosis associated with squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil

BACKGROUND

Digital necrosis is an uncommon paraneoplastic syndrome. Fewer than 50 cases have been sporadically reported through the literature over the last 30 years.

CASE REPORT

We describe the unfortunate case of a 62-year-old woman with a locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil. She was admitted to the hospital for symptomatic hypercalcemia and was found to have metastatic disease. She subsequently had digital necrosis develop. Despite numerous attempts to control the rapidly progressive ischemia, little objective evidence of response was noted. Her primary disease did not respond to palliative radiation, and her general condition rapidly deteriorated.

CONCLUSIONS

A review of the literature provided some insight into the possible etiology of this unique complication of malignancy. Unfortunately, the treatment options suggested were of limited value, because there was no discernible benefit with any directed treatment. A brief summary and discussion of the literature follows.