Pregnancy complicated by acute pulmonary lymphangitic adenomatosis, metastasis and disseminated intravascular coagulation. A case report.

BACKGROUND: The association of pregnancy and cancer is a rare event, occurring in less than 1 case per 5,000 pregnancies, and is a cause of maternal mortality in about 5% of cases. CASE: A 33-year-old, Japanese woman presented at the end of pregnancy with clinical manifestations of pneumonia and developed fatal disseminated intravascular coagulation in the postpartum period. The pathologic findings suggested the existence of a primary cancer in the gastrointestinal tract with pulmonary and placental metastases. CONCLUSION: The biologic course of malignancies in pregnancy is complex. In gastrointestinal cancer, normal pregnancy symptoms can mask and delay the diagnosis. As in this patient, very rare presentations are possible.