Cerebellar hemorrhage secondary to cerebellopontine angle metastasis from thyroid papillary carcinoma

A 63-year-old woman presented with a metastatic focus of papillary thyroid carcinoma in the cerebellopontine angle manifesting as lateral gazing nystagmus and slurred speech. Computed tomography demonstrated massive hemorrhage in the left cerebellar hemisphere. She was treated conservatively. Her symptoms resolved completely, but she experienced progressive deterioration in auditory acuity and ataxia over the next 6 months. Magnetic resonance imaging with gadolinium demonstrated an enhanced mass in the left cerebellopontine angle, and she was scheduled for elective resection of the tumor. Left retrosigmoid craniotomy was performed, and the tumor was subtotally removed except for a small amount at the junction of the trigeminal nerve and the pons. Histological examination confirmed a diagnosis of metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma. The patient then underwent adjuvant gamma knife radiosurgery. Her clinical course was unremarkable, and her hypoacusis and ataxia resolved completely. Postoperative gallium scintigraphy revealed no residual tumor and no other systemic metastases. Hemorrhagic cerebellar metastasis from papillary thyroid carcinoma is extremely rare, but early recognition of metastatic cerebellar tumor should prompt immediate treatment to avoid the development of hearing loss, ataxia, and tonsillar herniation.

Solitary hemorrhagic cerebellar metastasis from occult papillary thyroid microcarcinoma

BACKGROUND

Cerebellar metastasis (CM) from papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is exceptional with only 12 reported cases and usually carries a very poor prognosis. In the two previously reported patients in whom CM was detected before PTC, other distant or local metastases were already present by the time of PTC diagnosis. We report a patient found to have papillary thyroid microcarcinoma after surgical resection and histopathological study of a large solitary hemorrhagic CM, who showed no evidence of other metastatic sites and survived 7 years after initial diagnosis.

SUMMARY

A 65-year-old female patient with a history of surgical resection of a 7-cm cerebellar mass diagnosed with PTC metastasis, and adjuvant treatment with cranial external radiotherapy, was referred to us. The neck ultrasonography showed a solitary 4-mm right thyroid nodule. Histopathology after total thyroidectomy revealed a 2-mm papillary thyroid microcarcinoma, sclerosing variant, with capsule infiltration but no regional lymph node invasion. Although she received a total dose of 500 mCi of 131-I after surgery and the last two whole-body scans were normal, serum thyroglobulin levels progressively increased. The patient refused any further test or treatment other than basal blood sampling and suppressive therapy with levothyroxine and remained stable for 4 years until she started to complain about deviation of her walk. A computed tomography scan showed a regrowth of the metastasis. She suffered a sudden worsening of her neurological status because of a big intratumoral hemorrhage that required decompressive craniectomy and hematoma evacuation surviving 3 years more after this episode.

CONCLUSIONS

To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a solitary CM from an occult PTC, and also the first that developed an acute cerebellar hemorrhage years after cranial surgery, however, exhibiting the longest reported survival. This case highlights the importance of not only an appropriate initial treatment of the CM and primary PTC in these patients, but also a close follow-up, to avoid further complications and improve their prognosis.

Thyroid carcinoma metastasis to skull with infringement of brain: treatment with radioiodine

BACKGROUND

Infringement by differentiated thyroid carcinoma on the brain is rare but, when suspected, the patient deserves special attention. A patient with an enlarging metastasis of thyroid carcinoma to the skull that was impinging on the brain illustrates diagnostic and therapeutic strategies applicable to the treatment of metastatic carcinoma.

METHODS

A case study was performed. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were done, serum thyroglobulin was measured, and tumor responses to thyroxine and (131)I treatments were monitored. Tumor dosimetry, enabled by scintigraphy with (131)I employing single photon emission tomography fused with CT (SPECT-CT), was performed.

RESULTS

The metastasis was from a follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma. During thyrotropin stimulation the tumor enlarged. The tumor decreased in volume after each of two (131)I therapies. Dosimetry indicated delivery of 1970 and 2870 cGy to the tumor and 35 and 42 cGy to the brain, respectively, in the two treatments. The patient has survived for more than 11 years since diagnosis.

CONCLUSIONS

A metastasis from a follicular variant of papillary carcinoma increased in volume during hypothyroidism producing more infringement on the brain. Beyond the effects of thyroxine therapy, (131)I treatments induced recession of tumor volume. In patients with metastases that concentrate (131)I, dosimetry with SPECT-CT can predict absorbed doses of radiation to the tumor and to the adjacent organs and thus lay a basis for data-based decisions on (131)I therapies. Therapy may induce prolonged survival in patients with metastases infringing on the brain.

Hürthle cell thyroid carcinoma metastatic to the sigmoid colon

Prognosis of differentiated thyroid cancer is favorable in the majority of cases. However, distant metastases occur in 10-15% of cases, predominantly in lungs and bones, especially in older patients exhibiting poorly differentiated forms or advanced stages. We report a case history of Hürthle cell thyroid carcinoma metastasized to the sigmoid colon. To the best of our knowledge, this location has never been described before. This case history illustrates the difficulties of diagnosis and treatment in patients whose metastases do not concentrate radioiodine. The interest of different imaging modalities, including fluoro-deoxy-glucose positron emission tomography scan and somatostatin receptor scintigraphy, is discussed.