Postchemotherapeutic reversibility of hypertrophic osteoarthropathy in a patient with bronchogenic adenocarcinoma.

A 54-year-old man with bronchogenic adenocarcinoma had features of the hypertrophic osteoarthropathy syndrome. The syndrome is treated by surgical resection of the primary tumor, with rapid remission of the symptoms within 24 hours after surgery. In the case reported here, the tumor (T3N3M0) could not be resected. Clinical and scintigraphic regression of the hypertrophic osteoarthropathy was evident after chemotherapy. Bone scintigraphy is valuable when determining a patient's response to treatment for this paraneoplastic syndrome.