OCCULT GASTRIC-CANCER PRESENTING AS COR-PULMONALE RESULTING FROM TUMOR-CELL MICROEMBOLISM

Cor pulmonale resulting from tumor emboli is a rare presentation of ga stric cancer, and only six similar cases have been reported in the Eng lish literature, We report the case of a 37-yr-old woman presenting wi th dyspnea who died of cor pulmonale. Autopsy revealed signet cell car cinoma of the stomach with intra-abdominal metastasis and right ventri cular hypertrophy, There were no macroscopic pulmonary emboli or paren chymal lesions, but more than 60% of the small pulmonary arteries and arterioles were occluded. In most vessels, fibrocellular intimal proli feration was the major finding with only a few entrapped tumor cells.