SUBACUTE COR-PULMONALE DUE TO MICROSCOPIC PULMONARY TUMOR-CELL EMBOLIZATION

A case of a clinically occult ovarian carcinoma leading to subacute co r pulmonale in a 62-year-old woman is described. The patient was admit ted to hospital with increasing respiratory distress. Physical examina tion and echocardiography showed signs of pulmonary hypertension. She died from circulatory failure. Autopsy revealed a bilateral ovarian ca rcinema with diffuse carcinosis of the peritoneum. No gross evidence o f pulmonary embolism was present, but microscopic investigation reveal ed tumour-related microangiopathic lesions causing the lethal pulmonar y hypertension.