title: Cerebellar hemorrhage secondary to cranial metastasis of prostate cancer--case report.
abstract: A 77-year-old man with a 9-year history of prostate cancer presented with high fever and dysphagia. The initial diagnosis was aspiration pneumonia, but the patient became comatose 2 days after admission, and neuroradiological workup revealed cerebellar hemorrhage, obstructive hydrocephalus, and extensive destruction of the occipital bone secondary to cranial metastasis. The diagnosis was cerebellar hemorrhage secondary to cranial metastasis of prostate cancer. Tumor resection was abandoned because of the patient's poor health. Shunt surgery and palliative radiotherapy were temporarily effective in restoring his consciousness, but he died of systemic infection 3 weeks after surgery. Metastasis of prostate cancer to the cranium, particularly to the skull base, rarely causes lower cranial nerve paresis, and awareness of this sign may lead to earlier detection of the cranial metastasis and prevention of cerebellar hemorrhage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, National Tokyo Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan. GInamasu@aol.com
authors.forename: Joji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Inamasu
authors.forename: Yoshiki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Ryoichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kuroshima
authors.forename: Keita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mayanagi
authors.forename: Maaya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Orii
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ichikizaki
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D020300:Intracranial Hemorrhages / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D012888:Skull Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary*