Spinal pachymeningeal carcinomatosis: myelographic features.

Metastases to the spine resulting in spinal neuropathy occur commonly _ The vast majority involve the vertebrae and the epidural spaces. Intradural metastases, either extraor intra-medullary arising from a primary lesion outside of the central nervous system are seldom encountered. Another rare form of metastatic disease to the spinal central nervous system is leptomeningeal carcinomatosis. This type of metastasis is characterized by diffuse tumor infiltration of the pia-arachnoid of the spinal cord and of the nerve roots [1]. We recently observed a case with pachymeningeal carcinomatosis in the cervical region with diffuse sheetlike tumor infiltration of the dura. To our knowledge, this form of metastasis has not been previously reported.