CASE REPORT   

Minerva Pneumologica 2019 September;58(3):97-100

DOI: 10.23736/S0026-4954.19.01852-2

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Fatal cardiac and pulmonary metastases from anaplastic thyroid carcinoma

Nawfel BEN-HAMOUDA ^{1, 2} ✉, Max GUILLOT ^{2, 3}, Marie-Line HARLAY ², Pascal BILBAULT ⁴, Agnes NEUVILLE ⁵, Marie-Noelle ROEDLISH ⁶, Francis SCHNEIDER ², Vincent CASTELAIN ^{2, 3}

¹ Department of Intensive Care Medicine and Burns, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland; ² Unit of Intensive Medicine and Reanimation, Hospital of Hautepierre, University Hospital of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; ³ Federation of Translational Medicine of Strasbourg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; ⁴ Emergency Service, University Hospital of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; ⁵ Unit of Pathology, University Hospital of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; ⁶ Unit of Radiology, University Hospital of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France

Here we report the case of a 76-year-old female with history of hypertension, post-partum phlebitis, ischemic stroke and nodular goiter. The patient is admitted to our Intensive Care Unit for respiratory distress. The clinical course leads rapidly to a respiratory failure with septic shock. Despite mechanical ventilation support, antibiotic therapy started after radiography (pneumonia), antituberculosis drugs initiated after the computed tomography report (suspicion of tuberculosis) and vasopressors, the patient suddenly dies. After autopsy results it was concluded that is an acute respiratory failure caused by multiple pulmonary tumor emboli and a myocardial metastasis from an anaplastic thyroid carcinoma.

KEY WORDS: Respiratory insufficiency; Respiratory distress syndrome, adult; Thyroid carcinoma, anaplastic; Shock, septic