An incidental finding of testicular seminoma in the context of acute pulmonary embolism: a case report

Clinical guidelines do not recommend further investigation for occult malignancy in the scenario of unprovoked venous thromboembolism in the absence of additional clinical features suggestive of malignancy. We present the case of a young gentleman with pulmonary embolism who was diagnosed with testicular seminoma despite lack of symptoms or signs suggestive of malignancy. This is a unique case describing a scenario not well documented in existing literature where contravention of clinical guidelines had a potentially advantageous outcome for the patient.

A 37-year-old white male presented with seemingly unprovoked acute pulmonary embolism with right heart strain. He did not have any predisposing factors for venous thromboembolism and did not have any symptoms or signs suggestive of malignancy. Clinical guidelines do not recommend further investigation to screen for malignancy in this scenario. Despite this, our young, otherwise healthy patient proceeded to computed tomography scanning, resulting in the diagnosis of localized testicular seminoma. Testicular ultrasound described normal-sized testes (despite a discrete lesion in the right testis), suggesting this was not detectable by the patient or clinician on routine examination. The patient was anticoagulated and had an inferior vena cava filter inserted to facilitate orchidectomy followed by adjuvant radiotherapy.

This case highlights the importance of considering malignancy in seemingly unprovoked venous thromboembolism and the availability of guidelines to direct further investigation. Our patient’s treatment was not in line with clinical guidelines and was considered a “lucky find.”