Hypertrophic osteoarthropathy secondary to bronchopulmonary cancer (our experience).

During 5 years (1986-1990), 81 of the patients under our care showed bronchopulmonary cancer diagnosed by clinical, x-ray and bronchoscopic examinations. Of these, 69 (85.2) were men and 12 (14.8%) women, with a mean age of 62 years; 72 patients (90%) were moderate or heavy smokers. Four of them (4.9%) presented the classical hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (HOA) described by Bamberger and Pierre Marie, i.e., finger clubbing, ossifying periostitis of the long bones, joint pains and swelling. Other 3 patients showed only finger clubbing, while 7 of 30 cases studied by systematic x-ray examinations of the long bones presented ossifying periostitis (5 cases) or hyperostosis (2 cases). It results that almost one third (31.6%) of the patients with bronchopulmonary cancer had a complete or incomplete Bamberger-Pierre Marie syndrome. It is concluded that HOA identification before the clinical and x-ray manifestations of bronchopulmonary cancer could contribute to an early diagnosis of this malignant disease.