A case of multiple pulmonary infarctions occurring in an ambulant male, and associated with rectal lesions.

The problem of pulmonary embolism with infarction continues to fascinate the pathologist and clinician alike. With the advent of the pioneer work of Homans,’ Allen2 and others.3-5 The emphasis, and rightly so, has been on the dangers of deep vein thromboses, particularly in the calf, femoral and iliac areas. Its relationship in the debilitated, the surgical and cardiac patient, to pulmonary artery embolization is too well documented to require discussion. Less well publicized, are the occasion l cases of pulmonary infarction, occurring in ambulant and apparently well individuals. Except for one or two scattered case reports, this has received little attention. The rectum and its venous drainage as a possible source of pulmonary emboll has been mentioned as such in only one relatively recent study.6 It is the purpose of this paper to discuss the problem of the rectum as a source of embolization and to report a case which suggests that possibility.