Bilateral Symmetric Thalamic Metastasis in a Patient with Small Cell Lung Cancer.
A 68-year old woman was referred to our hospital because of dry cough with persistent numbness in the extremities. Chest roentgenogram showed right hilar tumor with mediastinal lymphnodes and brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed multiple tiny nodules.
After performing the transbronchial needle aspiration obtained from subcarinal lymphnode, she was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer accompanied by multiple brain metastasis . After completion of four cycles of chemotherapy, the size of lung lesion was regressed together with complete resolution of brain.
However, her numbness was remained. Four months later, she was hospitalized again for severe numbness in her trunk and extremities. Brain MRI demonstrated new symmetric metastatic lesions in bilateral thalamus as well as left putamen.
Another two months later, numbness exacerbated and spread from the top to toe with the growing of primary and bilateral thalamic metastatic lesions on computed tomography. In spite of whole-brain irradiation, she had suffered from severe numbness, and died of obstructive pneumonia. To our knowledge, this is the first case of bilateral symmetric thalamic metastasis in SCLC with refractory numbness over the whole body.
Cancer Stud Mol Med Open J. 2018; 4(1): 10. doi: 10.17140/CSMMOJ-4-123
