Abstract
The presence of cancer, overt or occult, is thrombogenic to the individual. This has been recognised from the time of Armand Trousseau who, in 1865 [1], stated: “I have long been struck with the frequency with which cancerous patients are affected with painful oedema of the superior or inferior extremities, whether or not either was the seat of the cancer. The frequent occurrence of phlegmasia alba dolens with an appreciable cancerous tumour, led me to the inquiry of whether a relationship of cause and effect did not exist between the two”. This observation is classically associated with pancreatic carcinoma but other tumours, particularly adenocarcinomas, can also cause it. Trousseau correctly diagnosed it in himself scarcely 18 months later and died of stomach cancer in 1867 [2].
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References
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Warwick, D., Gozzard, D. (2011). Thromboprophylaxis in cancer surgery. In: Perry, D. (eds) Handbook of Thromboprophylaxis. Springer Healthcare, Tarporley. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-908517-00-5_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-908517-00-5_6
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