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Updated: Jul 26, 2026

Murine Model of Metastatic Liver Tumors in the Setting of Ischemia Reperfusion Injury
Published on: August 30, 2019
A rupture of lung metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma causing haemothorax
K Akimaru1, K Miyairi, H Tanaka
1Department of Surgery, First Hospital of Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan.
Abstract:
A 67 year old male with non-resectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in both lobes and liver cirrhosis was treated with transcatheter arterial embolization and regional chemotherapy. He was doing well for 18 months. He was readmitted for fever, chest pain and multiple pulmonary metastases. During interleukin-2 therapy, he suddenly developed dyspnoea and palpitation, and was in shock. Left-sided haemothorax was confirmed by draining 3 L of fresh blood. In spite of intensive care, he died within 36 h. Autopsy showed that the haemothorax was caused by rupture of one of the metastases in the upper lobe of the left lung, and that the primary HCC was totally necrotic. Survey of the literature failed to find a report of fatal bleeding from a lung metastasis of HCC.
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