title: Benign metastasizing leiomyoma to skull base and spine: a report of two cases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We report two patients with benign uterine leiomyoma metastasizing to the nervous system, respectively, to the skull base and to the spine. Although primary cranial and metastatic spinal leiomyomas have been rarely described, to our knowledge no case of benign leiomyoma metastasizing to the skull base has been reported before.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two female patients with history of hysterectomy for benign leiomyoma, subsequently metastasizing to the lungs and smooth muscles of the skin, presented with a focal neurologic deficit. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a sacral mass in one case and a skull base tumor in the other.
  
  
  METHODS
  Both patients underwent surgery for resection of the lesions. Good postoperative results were obtained. Histologic examination of the surgical specimen revealed a benign metastasizing leiomyoma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Benign metastasizing leiomyoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of mass lesions in the sacral spine and skull base in patients who have a history of uterine leiomyoma or benign metastases of the same disease in organs outside the nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, AZ St Lucas, Groenebriel 1, 9000, Ghent, Belgium. g.alessi@worldonline.be
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alessi
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lemmerling
authors.forename: Ludovic
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vereecken
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Waele
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003388:Cranial Fossa, Posterior / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy; D007889:Leiomyoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D012445:Sacrococcygeal Region / Q000473:pathology; D019292:Skull Base Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery