Cavernous sinus syndrome caused by metastatic colon carcinoma.

Cranial metastasis has been reported as infrequent during colon cancers and usually occurs in the late stages with liver and/or lung metastasis. Metastasis to cavernous sinus is even rarer and only reported as case reports in the literature. In patients with cavernous sinus metastasis, the most common primary sites are the breast, lung, and genitourinary carcinomas, if head and neck tumors are excluded. A 34-year-old man underwent a right hemicolectomy for a mucinous adenocarcinoma of the right colon 14 months before presentation. Because metastatic implants on the omentum were detected during the operation, combination chemotherapy was begun. After 5 months of the last cycle of the chemotherapy, his left eyelid began to droop, left eye movements became limited, and he began experiencing numbness of his right forehead and cheek. Clinical and radiologic findings were discussed. Despite antiedematous treatment and radiation therapy, he did not experience marked improvement of his symptoms. He could not be given chemotherapy and died 2.5 months after the first symptom of cavernous sinus metastasis. Primary colon adenocarcinoma with cavernous sinus metastasis is very rare. It was hypothesized that the paravertebral plexus of Batson could permit the spread of tumor cells from pelvis toward the cranium. This could explain the metastases from pelvis to the cavernous sinus, such as in our case. Prognosis for the patients with cavernous sinus metastasis seems to be poor, and this might be the harbinger of rapid progression with widespread disease.