Raynaud's phenomenon progressing to gangrene after vincristine and bleomycin therapy

Abstract

Vascular symptoms after vinca-alcaloids and bleomycin are known. We report a 50-year-old woman who was cigarette smoker and who had had the syndrome of Raynaud's phenomenon for two years before she developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma. She was treated with chemotherapy including vincristine and bleomycin. Immediately after the second course of chemotherapy she had severe vertigo, nystagmus, dysarthria and dysphagia. The fingers remained cyanotic and became extremely painful despite stellatum blockade, intra-arterial vasodilators and thoracic sympathectomy. Two digits of the left hand were partially amputated because of gangrenous areas on the fingertips. The cerebral symptoms disappeared.