Rare Presentation of Pancreatic Cancer: A Case Report

Abstract

Introduction: Hypercoagulable state may be an important first presentation in malignancies especially pancreatic cancer. The trousseau syndrome is caused by venous thrombosis, non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis and arterial thrombosis. We describe a patient who had the cerebral infarction as the initial manifestation of pancreatic cancer and we discuss that full work up for every patient with atypical stroke should be done. Case Presentation: We report a 67-year-old man who developed multiple cerebral infarctions as the initial manifestation of pancreatic cancer. Cancer antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) was 52,065 U/mL (Normal value: 0 - 33 U/mL), computerized tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen showed multiple hypodensities in both lobes of the liver and Heterogeneous hypodensity was seen in the pancreas that was highly suggestive of pancreas adenocarcinoma and was confirmed with the biopsy. Conclusions: In the case of multiple brain infarctions in both anterior and posterior circulation, without evidence of common cause, trousseau syndrome and hypercoagulability state should be considered.