Widespread vertebral and epidural venous plexus metastasis of prostatic carcinoma presenting wedge‐shaped radial lesions in the spinal cord

Abstract

The present case is the first autopsy case of prostatic carcinoma presenting widespread spinal epidural venous plexus tumor cell emboli with wedge-shaped spinal cord lesions. There has been no previous report of prostatic carcinoma showing tumor cell emboli in the spinal and cranial base epidural venous plexus, in spite of the fact that the incidence of vertebral metastasis in prostatic carcinoma is high, and that presence of continuity from pelvic organs to venous plexus around vertebrae, up to foramen magnum, has been reported. The present case shows that the possibility of spinal cord injury, not by direct compression, but by venous circulatory disturbance as a result of tumor cell emboli to veins, should be taken into consideration on medical treatment of prostatic carcinoma.

Metastatic disease of the brain: extra-axial metastases (skull, dura, leptomeningeal) and tumour spread

“…Tumour implants are believed to result either from arterial seeding-by periventricular metastases with pial rupture, ependymal invasion or spreading along Virchow-Robin spaces (a tunnel-like extension of the subarachnoid space surrounding blood vessels that pass into the brain from the subarachnoid space)-or from venous hematogenous access. The latter can occur through several ways, among which are the internal vertebral venous plexus (of Batson)-which allows direct spread into the dural and cerebral veins [6,7]-the choroid plexus and the arachnoid vessels (typically involved in leukemia).…”

Metástasis rectal de carcinoma lobulillar mamario

“…Es avalvular, por lo que sufre fenómenos de flujo retrógrado según las presiones torácica y abdominal. Explica la diseminación de varios tipos tumorales al raquis, cráneo y cinturas pélvica y escapular (9).…”