Intramedullary Spinal Cord Metastasis: A Report of Two Cases and a Review of the Literature / 대한방사선종양학회지

ABSTRACT

Intramedullary spinal cord metastases (ISCM) account for only 3.4% of symptomatic metastases to the spinal cord. The survival of patients with ISCM is characteristically short, often no longer than 2 months, due to a rapid neurologic deterioration and the presence of widespread metastases, including metastases to the brain. We report two cases of ISCM arising from primary sphenoid sinus carcinoma and primary lung cancer along with a review of the literature. The case of ISCM from the primary sphenoid sinus is the third case of secondary syringomyelia due to ISCM in the world literature, and ISCM from the primary lung cancer is the first case reported in Korea. One case showed a slow progression of symptoms and a longer survival (26 months after the radiotherapy to the spine), and the other showed a rapid deterioration of symptoms with a shorter survival. More effective palliation can be achieved if the disease is diagnosed at an early stage when the neurologic deficits are still reversible.