2019 Volume 33 Issue 5 Pages 544-548
Pulmonary vein stump thrombosis after lobectomy may cause thrombotic emboli of vital organs. Spinal cord infarction is rare as a postoperative complication except for in spine and vascular surgery. We report a patient who underwent left upper lobectomy for lung cancer and developed spinal cord infarction on postoperative day 3 and pulmonary vein stump thrombosis simultaneously. A 65-year-old man developed sudden paraplegia and sensory disorder of the lower limbs at 3 days after left upper lobectomy for lung cancer. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a spinal cord infarction at Th2/3. An enhanced computed tomography revealed pulmonary vein stump thrombosis. Anticoagulant therapy was started. Rehabilitation for paraplegia of the lower limbs was also started and symptoms improved. At 5 postoperative months, although the sensory disorder weakly remained, the motor paralysis had disappeared. The patient recovered enough to walk and drive a car without difficulty. Considering the existence of pulmonary vein stump thrombosis and course of spinal cord infarction, we suspect that pulmonary vein stump thrombosis was the cause of spinal cord infarction.
