31 Cases of Lung Cancer Detected in an Emergency Department.

概要

論文の詳細を見る
We reviewed 31 cases of lung cancer detected in an emergency department. The chief complaints were dyspnea (22 cases), hemoptysis (3 cases), hemiplegia (3 cases), convulsion (1 case), shoulder pain (1 case) and numbness of the upper extremities (1case). The major causes of dyspnea were pleural effusion in adenocarcinoma cases and atelectasis in squamous cell carcinoma cases. The cause of hemoptysis was direct invasion of the main bronchus and the causes of hemiplegia and convulsion were brain metastasis. The cause of shoulder pain was invasion to the apical segment of the lung. The cause of numbness of the upper extremities was transient ischemic heart attack and adenocarcinoma was found incidentally. The clinical stage of 30 cases was III B or IV, and operation was not indicated, except in the case with transient ischemic heart attack. Eighteen of those cases (58%) had antecedent symptoms, such as cough and exertional dyspnea. However only 5 cases consulted any other doctor before consulting our emergency department. This study suggests that it is difficult to find lung cancer in the early stage.
特定非営利活動法人日本肺癌学会の論文