Clinical and cytological features of CSF in meningeal carcinomatosis / 临床神经病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore clinical and cytological features of CSF in meningeal carcinomatosis.Methods The data of clinic, imaging, and cerebrospinal fluid in 44 cases with meningeal carcinomatosis were analyzed retrospectively.Results 31 cases appeared headache or notalgia, 18 cases had cranial nerve lesions, 25 cases showed meningeal irritation sign. MRI enhancement scanning found abnormally diffused piamater enhancement in 3 cases. Cerebrospinal fluid pressure of 32 cases increased, cell population of CSF increased in 41 cases and the most cells were activated monocytes and lymphocytes. All the 44 cases found tumor cells in cytological examination of CSF. 5 cases were intracalvarial primartumors, and the others were metastatic tumors. Cytologic classification showed adenocarcinoma of 33 cases, malignant lymphoma of 3 cases, undifferentiated carcinoma of 2 cases and squamous cell carcinoma of 1 case. Conclusions The clinical manifestations and imaging results of meningeal carcinomatosis lack specificity, and cytological examination of CSF is a reliable diagnosing method for this disease.