Internal jugular venous thrombosis due to Trousseau's syndrome as the presenting feature of metastatic prostate carcinoma: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Internal jugular vein thrombosis is a rare vascular event with a potentially fatal outcome. Of the known etiologies, internal malignancies, either known or occult, are well described. Even though malignancies are known to present with internal jugular vein thrombosis, it rarely occurs due to prostate carcinoma. Many cases of jugular vein and superior vena cava thrombosis secondary to malignancies are due to metastatic compression of veins. Recurrent and unusual vascular thrombosis due to hypercoagulability associated with malignancies is also known as Trousseau's syndrome. Here we report a rare case of a patient with internal jugular vein thrombosis as a presenting feature of metastatic prostate carcinoma, which is a case of Trousseau's syndrome. CASE PRESENTATION: A 75-year-old Sri Lankan man with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and past history of spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage presented with a short history of painless swelling in his left supraclavicular fossa. An examination revealed the swelling was due to a thickened left external jugular vein. A duplex ultrasound scan revealed left-sided internal jugular, external jugular, and brachiocephalic venous thrombosis. Surveillance into underlying malignancies showed an irregular, hard prostate gland suspicious of prostate carcinoma, which was proven with histology, and biochemically. A computed tomography scan found extensive vertebral, pelvic bone, intra-abdominal lymph node metastasis, and a single right-sided lower lung metastatic lesion, with no direct involvement of the jugular vein. CONCLUSIONS: Spontaneous thrombosis of the internal jugular vein due to Trousseau's syndrome is rare and unusual. Clinicians should promptly investigate for malignancies as it can be the first presentation of underlying occult malignancies. Although prostate carcinomas are rare to present with internal jugular vein thrombosis, this case illustrates the importance of having a high degree of suspicion in the appropriate clinical setting.

Coronary wave energy: a novel predictor of functional recovery after myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Revascularization after acute coronary syndromes provides prognostic benefit, provided that the subtended myocardium is viable. The microcirculation and contractility of the subtended myocardium affect propagation of coronary flow, which can be characterized by wave intensity analysis. The study objective was to determine in acute coronary syndromes whether early wave intensity analysis-derived microcirculatory (backward) expansion wave energy predicts late viability, defined by functional recovery. METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty-one patients (58±11 years) were enrolled after non-ST elevation myocardial infarction. Regional left ventricular function and late-gadolinium enhancement were assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, before and 3 months after revascularization. The backward-traveling (microcirculatory) expansion wave was derived from wave intensity analysis of phasic coronary pressure and velocity in the infarct-related artery, whereas mean values were used to calculate hyperemic microvascular resistance. Twelve-hour troponin T, left ventricular ejection fraction, and percentage late-gadolinium enhancement mass were 1.35±1.21 µg/L, 56±11%, and 8.4±6.0%, respectively. The infarct-related artery backward-traveling (microcirculatory) expansion wave was inversely correlated with late-gadolinium enhancement infarct mass (r=-0.81; P<0.0001) and strongly predicted regional left ventricular recovery (r=0.68; P=0.001). By receiver operating characteristic analysis, a backward-traveling (microcirculatory) expansion wave threshold of 2.8 W m(-2) s(-2)×10(5) predicted functional recovery with sensitivity and specificity of 0.91 and 0.82 (AUC 0.88). Hyperemic microvascular resistance correlated with late-gadolinium enhancement mass (r=0.48; P=0.03) but not left ventricular recovery (r=-0.34; P=0.07). CONCLUSIONS: The microcirculation-derived backward expansion wave is a new index that correlates with the magnitude and location of infarction, which may allow for the prediction of functional myocardial recovery. Coronary wave intensity analysis may facilitate myocardial viability assessment during cardiac catheterization.