Disseminated intravascular coagulation in a lung cancer patient after acute myocardial infarction.

A 70-year-old man with adenocarcinoma of the lung suffered from an attack of acute myocardial infarction during hospitalization. Eleven days after the heart attack, clinically obvious disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) occurred. The intravascular coagulation abnormalities progressed and eventually the patient died. We suspect that both lung adenocarcinoma and the insult of myocardial infarction may have contributed to the development of DIC in this patient.