Fact-sheet: Pachymeningeal carcinosis
- Pachymeningeal metastasis
Updated on 04/18/2018 at 3:42 PM
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Definition
Tumoral involvement of the pachymeninges
Clinical features
Polymorphic with no specificity, and difficult to distinguish from disorders related to the primary cancer or treatment side effects.
Multiple disorders involving noncontiguous areas of the neuraxis.
Headaches, higher cortical function impairment, gait disturbance, nausea/vomiting.
Laboratory findings
CSF: tumor marker positive in only 36% of cases
MRI
Contrast-enhanced MRI
Nodular and diffuse dural thickening and enhancement.
Management
Management of the primary cancer.
Differential diagnosis
Intracranial hypotension syndrome, inflammation/infection (Wegener's, tuberculosis, rheumatoid arthritis, sarcoidosis), idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis.