Doctor, I am sweating on just one side of my body: unilateral hyperhidrosis associated with mesothelioma

Our plain-English summary of Doctor, I am sweating on just one side of my body: unilateral hyperhidrosis associated with mesothelioma, by E. Waran (Clinical Case Reports, 2016).

The study

• Author: E. Waran
• Journal: Clinical Case Reports
• Published: 2016;4(5):533-4
• Cited by: 6 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Unilateral hyperhidrosis is rare and should prompt a thorough review for potentially serious underlying etiologies. Available treatments for unilateral hyperhidrosis secondary to mesothelioma are limited and its presence as a symptom usually signifies advanced disease and a poor prognosis.

In plain English

This short case report, published as a 'clinical image', described one patient: a 55-year-old man with a childhood history of asbestos exposure. The article does not give the fiber type or the source of the exposure. He presented with left-sided chest pain. CT scans suggested soft tissue deposits along the pleura, including one in the left aorto-vertebral recess, and a biopsy showed malignant mesothelioma of sarcomatoid type. The disease progressed despite radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and this was associated with heavy sweating (hyperhidrosis) on the opposite, right side of the body. Repeat staging showed no new right-sided disease beside the spine. A Minor sweat test, using iodine and cornflour on a small part of the back, showed the sweating on the side opposite the lesion. The author stated that one-sided sweating is rare and should prompt a thorough search for serious underlying causes. The author also stated that in mesothelioma it usually signals advanced disease and a poor prognosis. The report describes one person and gives no rates.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: case report of a single patient, in 'clinical image' format
• Who was studied: one 55-year-old man with a childhood history of asbestos exposure; the author is based at Royal Darwin Hospital, Australia; dates are not given
• Exposure: asbestos exposure in childhood; fiber type, source and dose not stated
• Main results:
  • The patient presented with left-sided chest pain. CT suggested pleural-based soft tissue deposits, including one in the left aorto-vertebral recess.
  • Biopsy diagnosed malignant mesothelioma of sarcomatoid type in this patient
  • Disease progression despite radiotherapy and chemotherapy was associated with profound hyperhidrosis on the side opposite the lesion
  • Repeat staging showed no new right-sided paravertebral disease
  • A Minor sweat test (iodine and cornflour on the skin) showed unilateral hyperhidrosis on the side opposite the lesion
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that unilateral hyperhidrosis is rare and should prompt a thorough review for potentially serious underlying causes. The author also concluded that, as a symptom of mesothelioma, it usually signifies advanced disease and a poor prognosis, and that available treatments for it are limited.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Prognosis.

Related studies

• Unilateral hyperhidrosis associated with underlying intrathoracic neoplasia — D.C. Lindsay, J.G. Freeman, et al. (1986)
• The doctors and the dockers — M. Greenberg (2004)
• Asbestos poisoning was covered up by doctors, claims health team — G. Mudur (2003)
• Re: Call for an International Ban on Asbestos: Trust me, I'm a doctor — M. Greenberg (2000)
• Doctor with mesothelioma wins settlement for asbestos exposure in late 1990s — C. Dyer (2020)
• Pleural mesothelioma side populations have a precursor phenotype — C. Frei, I. Opitz, et al. (2011)

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