Meningeal carcinomatosis due to basal cell carcinoma.

A case of meningeal carcinomatosis due to metastasizing basal cell carcinoma is reported. The patient was a 34-year-old woman who had a recurrent basal cell carcinoma of the upper eyelid with deep invasion. In spite of extensive surgery and radiotherapy, multiple bone metastases developed, and the patient eventually died of meningeal carcinomatosis. The possible pathogenic mechanisms of meningeal the present case, cancer cells reached the leptomeninges from adjacent vertebral metastases. It is suggested that the possibility of meningeal carcinomatosis should be considered in every patient with cancer and multiple vertebral metastases, particularly when neurologic signs involving the brain, cranial nerves, or spinal nerves are present.