Numb Chin Syndrome in Malignant Disease / 대한혈액학회지

ABSTRACT

The numb chin syndrome (NCS) is characterized by chin or lower lip numbness restricted to the distribution of mental nerve (the distal trigeminal nerve). This uncommon neuropathy may be associated with neoplastic disease and usually appeared as a late manifestation of systemic malignancy, and it is an important sign for early diagnosis and prediction of clinical course and prognosis of hematologic malignancy. The numb chin syndrome is usually associated with a poor prognosis although various therapeutic strategies led to resolution of this syndrome. We report 2 cases of numb chin syndrome ; one in acute leukemia in early course of disease before diagnosis of leukemia and the other in leptomeningeal seeding of malignant lymphoma. The therapeutic response and prognosis were poor, a patient of malignant lymphoma expired in two months and a patient of acute leukemia is alive at present but the disease was relapsed in 5 months after complete remission.