2022 Volume 31 Issue 6 Pages 369-373
A 70-year-old man who had undergone tumor resection and artificial anus preparation for the treatment of rectal cancer as well as lung resection due to lung metastasis suddenly developed dyspnea in 2018, and when he presented to a nearby hospital, a thrombus was found in the pulmonary artery and right atrium on contrast computed tomography, along with a thrombus in the femoral vein by lower-extremities venous ultrasound. He was diagnosed with pulmonary thromboembolism due to deep-vein thrombosis and transferred to our hospital. At admission, echocardiography revealed right ventricular strain and floating thrombi in the right atrium. Therefore, we performed surgical embolectomy. The operation was performed through a median sternotomy with cardiopulmonary bypass. We removed the thrombi in the right atrium and main pulmonary artery. Warfarin was started a few days after the operation. Contrast computed tomography showed no thrombus in the pulmonary artery, and the patient was discharged 24 days after surgery. Six months after discharge, he underwent partial lung resection due to the onset of new lung metastases. We herein report a cancer-bearing patient who developed pulmonary thromboembolism that was successfully treated by surgical embolectomy.
