[Tumor embolism with fatal cerebral infarct in pneumonectomy. Case report and review of the literature].

Carcinomas of the bronchi often infiltrate veins, particularly in advanced stages. Tumor propagation in pulmonary veins with intra-atrial extension has been reported. Systemic arterial tumor embolism is a potentially fatal hazard that is caused by surgery or it can be the initial manifestation of a bronchogenic carcinoma. The importance of early pulmonary venous ligation in lung cancer surgery, first stressed by Aylwin in 1951, is evident, particularly when intravenous tumor progression has been diagnosed preoperatively by echocardiography or CT scan. We report a case of lethal hemispheric brain infarction following tumor embolism during lobectomy for bronchus carcinoma. A review of the literature on this subject is presented; there were 38 cases of arterial tumor embolism because of primary lung neoplasms.