Key result
A 66-year-old male with small cell lung cancer developed severe intestinal ischemia and septic shock requiring total colectomy 24 hours after administration of cisplatin-etoposide chemotherapy.
Case Report (n=1)
No
This case highlights that arterial thromboembolic events, though rare, can manifest as severe intestinal ischemia during chemotherapy, emphasizing the importance of pre-treatment cardiovascular assessment.
May signal rare post-chemotherapy ischemia; single case leaves causality and screening implications open.
Thromboembolic events (TEEs) are frequent in cancer patients, especially venous thrombosis. Arterial thrombosis is less frequent. Chemotherapy increases the risk of these TEEs. Although TEEs are often reported, intestinal ischemia is a rare complication in cancer patients treated with chemotherapy. Here we describe a rare case of a patient with small cell lung cancer, who developed intestinal ischemia during treatment with cisplatin-etoposide chemotherapy. Shock and multiple organ failure developed and an urgent laparotomy with total colectomy was necessary. This case and review of the literature show that overall arterial TEEs are not as infrequent and may rarely manifest as intestinal ischemia. A cardiovascular assessment before the start of anticancer therapy is therefore imperative for cancer patients.
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Legius et al. (2017) conducted a case report in Small cell lung cancer (n=1). Cisplatin-etoposide chemotherapy was evaluated on Development of intestinal ischemia. A 66-year-old male with small cell lung cancer developed severe intestinal ischemia and septic shock requiring total colectomy 24 hours after administration of cisplatin-etoposide chemotherapy.
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