Pulmonary carcinoid found in a patient who presented with initial symptoms of brain metastasis: report of a case.

Although atypical pulmonary carcinoids frequently metastasize to regional lymph nodes, they rarely metastasize to the brain. We describe herein an extremely unusual case of a 52-year-old woman who presented with the symptoms of brain metastasis as the initial manifestation of an atypical pulmonary carcinoid. After control of the multiple metastatic brain lesions had been achieved by tumorectomy and stereotactic radiosurgery, a middle lobectomy of the right lung was performed to completely resect the primary pulmonary carcinoid. This aggressive surgical approach was successful in that it prolonged the survival of the patient and enhanced her quality of life.