Stroke Caused by Lung Cancer Invading the Left Atrium

Abstract

We describe a 59-year-old stroke patient presented with sudden onset left side weakness and a speech disorder due to a major acute cerebral infarction in the area of the right middle cerebral artery, right posterior cerebral artery, and small infarctions in the area of the left middle and left posterior cerebral artery. For the previous month, the patient had been feeling weak and had no appetite. The patient had not been previously seriously ill. A chest x-ray showed a large mass in the upper zone of the right lung. Chest computed tomography scan and echocardiography were performed and revealed advanced lung cancer invading the left atrium. Spontaneous tumor embolism is a rare cause of stroke and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of stroke in a cancer patient. Also, sometimes stroke can be the first manifestation of advanced cancer.

Keywords: Stroke; advanced lung cancer; rare causes of stroke, the first cancer manifestations; tumor embolism.