THROMBOEMBOLISM FROM OCCULT SUBCLAVIAN ARTERIAL-STENOSIS DURING CHEMOTHERAPY FOR BREAST-CARCINOMA

Cancer chemotherapy has been associated with hypercoagulability, causi ng thromboembolic complications. Three unusual and strikingly similar cases of upper-extremity arterial thromboembolism were encountered in women undergoing chemotherapy following surgical treatment for breast carcinoma. In all cases, previously asymptomatic stenosis of the subcl avian artery due to extrinsic cause was suspected as the source of dis tal thromboembolism. These cases illustrate the interplay between tran sient hypercoagulability and underlying arterial disease in the pathog enesis of arterial thromboembolism.