Abstract
Background. Skeletal muscle and myocardial metastases from primary lung cancer are relatively rare. Case. A 81-year-old woman underwent right upper lobectomy for squamous cell carcinoma of the lung in July 2005. The pathological stage was T2N1M0, and the postoperative course was uneventful. In August 2005, a hard subcutaneous mass was detected in her left shoulder. FDG-PET demonstrated high uptake in the left trapezius muscle and left ventricle and chest CT revealed tumors in both regions. Echocardiography on re-admission demonstrated no tumor. In September 2005, the mass in the left trapezius muscle was resected and diagnosed as a metastasis from the lung cancer. The tumor of left ventricle enlarged gradually, and was diagnosed as a myocardial metastasis clinically. Conclusion. Skeletal muscle and myocardial metastases from primary lung cancer are relatively rare. In addition, in almost all cases, myocardial metastases are found at autopsy, so it is especially rare to be able to establish a diagnosis when alive, as in this case. FDG-PET and MDCT were very useful for the purpose of diagnosis in this case.
