A Case of Intramedullary Spinal Cord Metastasis From Small Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract

Background. It is rare for intramedullary spinal cord metastasis to be diagnosed antemortem. Case. The patient was a 70-year-old man with small cell lung cancer (T4N2M0, Stage IIIB).Chemotherapy with a CDBCA+VP-16 regimen and radiation therapy with a total dose of 50 Gy were performed. After 5 courses of chemotherapy, a partial response was obtained. Pain and numbness of his legs aggravated rapidly. Subsequently, paraplegia and dysfunction of the bladder and bowel also progressed. Spinal cord MR imaging demonstrated intramedullary spinal cord metastasis from lung cancer at the Th 11 and Th12 levels. Immediately, radiation therapy was performed for the spinal cord lesion, but neurologic manifestations did not change. He died of respiratory failure two months after the diagnosis of spinal metastasis. Conclusion. We reported a case of small cell lung cancer that developed intramedullary spinal cord metastasis. Spinal cord MR imaging was useful for diagnosing intramedullary spinal cord metastasis. However the outcome was very poor.