BACKGROUND: Patients with cancer may be hypercoagulable, and smoking can cause both lung cancer and peripheral vascular disease. Cisplatin-based chemotherapy has been reported to cause a variety of vascular side effects. CASE REPORTS: Five patients with bronchogenic carcinoma and peripheral vascular disease developed acute arterial occlusion soon after receiving a combination of cisplatin or carboplatin plus etoposide. All these patients had risk factors for atherosclerosis and three of them had preexisting known peripheral vascular disease. CONCLUSIONS: The occurrence of acute arterial occlusion soon after initiation of chemotherapy suggests that it might have been a complication of this therapy. Hence, caution should be exercised when using platinum-based (and other?) chemotherapy in patients with known moderate or severe peripheral vascular disease.
BACKGROUND:Patients with cancer may be hypercoagulable, and smoking can cause both lung cancer and peripheral vascular disease. Cisplatin-based chemotherapy has been reported to cause a variety of vascular side effects. CASE REPORTS: Five patients with bronchogenic carcinoma and peripheral vascular disease developed acute arterial occlusion soon after receiving a combination of cisplatin or carboplatin plus etoposide. All these patients had risk factors for atherosclerosis and three of them had preexisting known peripheral vascular disease. CONCLUSIONS: The occurrence of acute arterial occlusion soon after initiation of chemotherapy suggests that it might have been a complication of this therapy. Hence, caution should be exercised when using platinum-based (and other?) chemotherapy in patients with known moderate or severe peripheral vascular disease.