Spinal metastases. A rare mode of presentation of brain tumors.
An analysis of more than 18,000 primary central nervous system (CNS) tumors revealed only 18 cases (0.01%) in which dropped spinal metastases had caused the presenting symptoms. This group included 11 males and 7 females in whom there was no history of surgical intervention or irradiation. Primitive neuroectodermal tumors ( PNET , medulloblastoma), comprised the largest group (11 patients) followed by high-grade astrocytomas (anaplastic and glioblastoma) (5 patients). One case each of germinoma and ependymoma were also identified. The clinicopathologic data of these cases, and a brief review of the literature are presented.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000556:secondary; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004407:Dysgerminoma / Q000556:secondary; D004806:Ependymoma / Q000556:secondary; D005260:Female; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000556:secondary; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008527:Medulloblastoma / Q000556:secondary; D008875:Middle Aged; D009380:Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue / Q000556:secondary*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary*