We report a 66-year-old man with a history of congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation on warfarin therapy and chronic kidney disease that presented with acute dyspnoea. He had multiple palpable purpuric lesions on his bilateral lower extremities. Laboratory findings supported acute anaemia with no obvious bleeding source, supratherapeutic international normalised ratio and acute on chronic kidney injury. Oesophogastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy initially suggested ischaemic colitis. The patient's legs were treated symptomatically with topical steroids. He later developed acute large volume bloody diarrhoea that made him haemodynamically unstable. Punch biopsy of the skin was consistent with leucocytoclastic vasculitis and direct immunofluorescence demonstrated immunoglobulin A and C3 deposits consistent with Henoch-Schonlein purpura. The patient was treated with oral steroids. Bleeding stabilised and rash resolved. Steroids were successfully tapered. The patient was discharged on haemodialysis but ultimately this was able to be discontinued.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common form of cancer and the most common form of liver cancer. Multiple etiological factors leading to HCC include hepatitis B and C, diabetes, alcoholic fatty liver disease, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Hepatocellular carcinoma in the late stages may present with tumor burden and thrombi that can extend into the right atrium (RA). This late-stage form of HCC has a poor prognosis. In this case, we present a 63-year-old male who presented to the hospital with acute encephalopathy with bilateral pulmonary emboli and a thrombus secondary to HCC extending into the RA. Clinical trials for non-surgical interventions are ongoing and are needed to treat patients with tumor burden who may be at bleeding risk from tumor resection.
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