Numb chin syndrome in cancer patients: etiology, response to treatment, and prognostic significance.
We retrospectively evaluated 42 consecutive cancer patients with numb chin syndrome (NCS). Breast cancer comprised 64% of the primary tumors, and lymphoproliferative neoplasms comprised 14%. A standard workup (including imaging of the brain, base of skull, and mandible, and CSF analysis) led to the diagnosis of a metastatic etiology in 89% of the patients. Fifty percent of the patients had mandibular metastases, 14% base-of-skull bone lesions, and 22% leptomeningeal seeding. NCS was a late manifestation of malignancy, associated with disease progression in 67% of the patients or heralding a relapse, which was often confined to the leptomeninges, in 31%. Although various therapeutic strategies led to resolution of NCS, median survival after its diagnosis was 5 months when due to bone metastases and 12 months if associated with leptomeningeal seeding.
Lossos
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Department of Neurology, Hadassah Hebrew University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel.
Siegal
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D000328:Adult; D001099:Arachnoid; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000556:secondary; D002680:Chin / Q000294:innervation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009366:Neoplasm Seeding; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D009423:Nervous System Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000556:secondary; D010841:Pia Mater; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012677:Sensation; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed