A shoulder-hand syndrome revealing a lung cancer

Abstract

Shoulder-hand syndrome is a reflex sympathetic dystrophy which is usually associated with minor trauma, fracture or surgical procedures on bones, or follows peripheral nerve injury. In the present report, we describe a patient who developed sympathetic dystrophy which revealed a lung cancer. Reflex sympathetic dystrophy, therefore, should be considered an occasional manifestation of a paraneoplastic syndrome warranting a thorough search for underlying malignancy.