Clinical and radiological differentiation between Trousseau syndrome and cardiogenic embolism: a retrospective case-control study

Background: Trousseau syndrome (TS) is a thromboembolic event in cancer patients caused by abnormalities in coagulation and fibrinolytic mechanisms. Acute multiple cerebral infarction (AMCI) is a rare form of TS. This study aimed to discuss the differentiation of clinical and radiographic characteristics between TS and cardiogenic embolism (CE) with AMCI as the main manifestation.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 69 patients with TS-AMCI and 105 patients with CE-AMCI who were treated at Shandong Provincial Hospital between August 2018 and October 2022. The clinical baseline data, laboratory indices, and imaging characteristics of the two groups were compared. A logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors of TS-AMCI, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to analyze the predictive value of the risk factors.

Results: In relation to the clinical data, there were statistically significant differences between the two groups of patients in terms of the lipid and coagulation indices. D-dimer [odds ratio (OR) =4.459, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.871-10.625; P=0.001] and triglyceride (OR =6.001, 95% CI: 2.375-15.165; P<0.001) were independent risk factors for TS-AMCI. In relation to the radiographic characteristics, the infarctions in the TS-AMCI group were widely distributed in multiple arterial supply areas [23 (33.3%) vs. 10 (9.5%); P<0.001]. More importantly, bilateral anterior + posterior circulation was also an independent risk factor for TS-AMCI (OR =15.005, 95% CI: 1.757-128.17; P=0.013).

Conclusions: Unexplained AMCI in the cancer-prone age group, abnormalities in the lipid and D-dimer levels, and infarction foci involving multiple arterial blood supply areas suggested a high probability of TS.