A typical case of Garcin syndrome caused by a nasopharyngeal cancer is reported. The typical symptos of cranial nerve paralyses on the right side were evident at the time of her first visit to the hospital. The patient died in 9 months despite the various treatments which consisted of irradiation, chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Postmortem examination revealed carcinomatous involvement of the cranial nerves at the base of the skull with infiltrations into the hypophysis but not into the brain stem.
The strong resistance of the dura mater against infiltration of cancer may be attributed to the sparse distribution of lymph ducts and blood vessels in the dura mater particularly at its attachment to the bones.
