title: Neuroimaging and clinical characteristics of brain metastases from esophageal carcinoma in Chinese patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective was to describe the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical characteristics of brain metastases from esophageal carcinoma diagnosed in patients from the Zhejiang Province of China, in order to provide a useful reference for the future diagnosis and treatment of similar patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical data were obtained for 31 patients who received treatment for brain metastases from esophageal carcinoma at the Zhejiang Provincial Cancer Hospital between January 1998 and July 2013. For this retrospective analysis, the primary tumors were pathologically confirmed. In addition, 6 cases had both pathologic records of brain metastasis events and complete MRI records available. Survival follow-up data were also obtained.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-one patients (30 males, 1 female) with a total of 62 tumors were diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma (n = 26), adenocarcinoma (n = 3), and small cell carcinoma (n = 2). While most patients complained of movement disturbance (51.6%) and headaches (32.3%), MRI characterized tumors with cystic elements (80.6%), tumors with thin cyst walls and enhancement (59.7%), and tumors with a peripheral edema zone <2 cm in diameter (59.7%). Moreover, a major radiological indicator for prognosis was a shift of midline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most of the patients with brain metastases from esophageal carcinoma were male. Furthermore, many of the T1-weighted MRI images detected thin wall, enhanced single or multiple cystic lesions with an edema zone <2 cm in diameter. These imaging characteristics may represent this type of brain metastasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Zhejiang Key laboratory of Radiation Oncology, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Treatment Technology on Thoracic Oncology (Lung and Esophagus), Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Guoping
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Weimin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000556:secondary*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged