Hepatocellular carcinoma with Pancoast's syndrome as an initial symptom: acase report

Pancoast's syndrome refers to a condition consisting of Horner's syndrome a nd arm pain that is most commonly found in patients with a lung tumor of th e superior sulcus invading the upper ribs or spine, lower brachial plexus a nd sympathetic chain. We report a 76-year-old female who had a thoracic inl et mass that presented as Pancoast's syndrome, showing profound pain, numbn ess and weakness of the left upper limb. Further evaluation revealed an inc reased level of serum alpha -fetoprotein (24 278 ng/ml), cryptogenic liver cirrhosis and primary hepatocellular carcinoma with protruding T3 vertebra metastasis that resulted in Pancoast's syndrome. To our knowledge, it is a rare case and only one case has been reported previously.