title: Analysis of isolated cranial nerve manifestations in patients with cancer.
abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the underlying causes of isolated cranial nerve (CN) manifestations in cancer patients. In a prospective study over a 16 month period, 20 of 242 patients presented with isolated CN manifestations, and were assessed for the following: primary site; CN symptoms and signs; length of time between primary diagnosis and neurological involvement; and survival following the neurological diagnosis. The most frequent primary site was determined as hematological malignancy (9/20). Thirteen of the 20 patients presented with single CN manifestations. Underlying causes of CN manifestations in 16 of the 20 patients were related to metastases. They included meningeal carcinomatosis (10/16), brain stem metastases (3/16), primary brain astrocytomas (1/16), and metastases out of the central nervous system (2/16). The remaining four patients' CN manifestations related to non-metastatic conditions. Although most of the isolated CN manifestations were due to systemic metastasis, in particular to the meninges, up to 20% were related to benign conditions.
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Medical School, University of Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam, Kahramanmaras, Turkey. hmgokce@ksu.edu.tr
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gokce
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003389:Cranial Nerve Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008577:Meningeal Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*