VENOUS AND ARTERIAL THROMBOSES IN ASSOCIATION WITH CARCINOMA OF THE PANCREAS

Abstract

A case is reported of carcinoma of the head of the pancreas which presented first with evidence of occlusive disease of the small arteries of one hand, of sudden onset. Only after the patient had developed numerous episodes of arterial and venous thrombosis and had been subjected to many sympathetic blocks, sympathectomy and one amputation did the discovery of a mass in the abdomen lead to the correct diagnosis. The case is reported principally because of the apparent rarity of arterial thrombosis in cases of cancer of the pancreas, but it also may serve to emphasize the fact that vascular thrombosis may antedate the other common and more familiar symptoms of pancreatic cancer.