ABSTRACT
Paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis is a syndrome characterised by behaviour changes, short-term memory loss and seizures. We report on a case of a 62-year-old man, ex-smoker who was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit with seizures, and who had previously experienced behaviour changes. Tests revealed nothing notable, except for the CSF examination which revealed elevated protein and MRI findings indicating temporal lobe abnormalities. Once other diagnoses had been ruled out, neoplasm screening was initiated. Conventional imaging failed to identify the tumour. Antineuronal anti-Hu antibodies were negative. Finally, fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) whole body -PET imaging was carried out revealing a pathologically increased glucose metabolism at the pharynx-larynx level. The biopsy showed an epidermoid carcinoma of the pyriform sinus. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of an epidermoid carcinoma of the pyriform sinus associated with paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/complications , Hypopharyngeal Neoplasms/complications , Limbic Encephalitis/etiology , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/diagnosis , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/therapy , Humans , Hypopharyngeal Neoplasms/diagnosis , Hypopharyngeal Neoplasms/therapy , Limbic Encephalitis/diagnosis , Limbic Encephalitis/therapy , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Male , Middle Aged , Positron-Emission Tomography , Tomography, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
La encefalitis límbica paraneoplásica es un síndrome que se caracteriza clínicamente por alteraciones de comportamiento, trastornos de memoria reciente y crisis epilépticas. Presentamos el caso clínico de un varón de 62 años, ex-fumador, que ingresa en UCI por un cuadro de crisis convulsivas, presentando anteriormente cambios en el carácter. Los estudios practicados resultaron negativos a excepción de LCR con hiperproteinorraquia y RNM que mostraba lesiones en el lóbulo temporal . Una vez descartadas otras posibles etiologías, iniciamos despistaje de neoplasia oculta. No se evidenció tumor en las pruebas de imagen habituales. Los anticuerpos anti-Hu resultaron negativos. Se realizó tomografía de emisión de positrones (TEP) de cuerpo entero que reveló un foco de hipercaptación a nivel faringolaríngeo. La biopsia fue diagnóstica de carcinoma epidermoide del seno piriforme. En nuestro conocimiento es el primer caso de ELP asociada a carcinoma epidermoide del seno piriforme
Paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis is a syndrome characterised by behaviour changes, short-term memory loss and seizures. We report on a case of a 62-year-old man, ex-smoker who was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit with seizures, and who had previously experienced behaviour changes. Tests revealed nothing notable, except for the CSF examination which revealed elevated protein and MRI findings indicating temporal lobe abnormalities. Once other diagnoses had been ruled out, neoplasm screening was initiated. Conventional imaging failed to identify the tumour. Antineuronal anti-Hu antibodies were negative. Finally, fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) whole body -PET imaging was carried out revealing a pathologically increased glucose metabolism at the pharynx-larynx level. The biopsy showed an epidermoid carcinoma of the pyriform sinus. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of an epidermoid carcinoma of the pyriform sinus associated with paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis
