Simple metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma to the skull--a case report
Yasunaga, A.; Tsujimura, M.; Shibata, S.; Ono, H.; Mori, K.; Tsuchiya, R.; Abe, M.
No Shinkei Geka. Neurological Surgery 10(6): 655-658
1982
ISSN/ISBN: 0301-2603 PMID: 6289152 Document Number: 183377
A 53-yr-old man was admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery, Nagasaki University Hospital scan also demonstrated a fist-sized tumor originating from the diploe with destruction of the skull bone. The tumor was strongly enhanced. A radical removal of the tumor was performed. The tumor was solid and adhered tightly to the dura and the skin. Profuse bleeding occurred. The postoperative course was uneventful and postoperative CT scan demonstrated complete removal of the tumor. The histological diagnosis was hepatocellular carcinoma and the skull tumor was considered metastatic. CT scan of the liver showed a circumscribed low density area with ring enhancement at the posterior ventral site. No metastasis was found in other organs except the skull, so the primary lesion was radically removed at the 2nd Department of Surgery. The incidence of metastasis to the bone in hepatocellular carcinoma in autopsy studies was considered rare, .apprx. 4-14%. The common sites of skeletal metastasis are the vertebral column, the ribs, the long bones and so on. Metastases to the skull bone was exceptionally rare and all cases hitherto reported had multiple metastases in other organ(s). No literature was found concerning the distant metastasis to the skull bone only.