Unexpected Acute Myocardial Infarction Due to Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation

Motoharu Shibusawa^1, , Takaaki Matsumura², Hisashi Tsutsumi¹, Yuuji Itou³ and Yoshiaki Shibata²

¹Department of Hematology Medicine, Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Medical Treatment Corporation, Tama-Hokubu Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan

²Department of Gastrointestinal Medicine, Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Medical Treatment Corporation, Tama-Hokubu Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan

³Department of Pathology, Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Medical Treatment Corporation, Tama-Hokubu Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan

Cite this paper

Motoharu Shibusawa, Takaaki Matsumura, Hisashi Tsutsumi, Yuuji Itou and Yoshiaki Shibata. Unexpected Acute Myocardial Infarction Due to Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation. American Journal of Medical Case Reports. 2015; 3(2):42-45. doi: 10.12691/AJMCR-3-2-7

Abstract

An autopsy case of gastric cancer accompanied by disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) that resulted in unexpected acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is reported. A 66-year-old man was introduced to our hospital and was diagnosed with gastric cancer accompanied by bone marrow carcinomatosis with DIC. On the fourteenth day of admission, he experienced dyspnea. He died on the fifteenth day. An autopsy was performed. The autopsy findings revealed myocardial infarction from the lateral to anterior and posterior ventricular walls, thromboembolism in the right coronary artery, and nonbacterial thrombogenic carditis of the mitral valve. A diagnosis of AMI was made by the autopsy findings. In cases accompanied by DIC, thrombus may develop in coronary arteries, resulting in AMI. In these patients, the typical symptoms of AMI and ST-segment elevation and pathologic Q waves on electrocardiogram are often not observed. The importance of this phenomenon warrants consideration in clinical practice.

Keywords

disseminated intravascular coagulation, acute myocardial infarction

Copyright

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