Leptomeningeal Carcinomatosis from a Primary Colon Cancer Patient

Leptomeningeal carcinomatosis is a rare complication of metastatic cancer, especially in colon cancer. We present a 34-year-old colon cancer patient with bony metastases only. He had neurologic signs including headache, unstable gait, diplopia, right eyelid ptosis, limited movement of the right eyeball and hearing impairment. Brain MRI showed multiple increased leptomeningeal contrast enhancement. We repeated CSF cytology study 5 times, then leptomeningeal carcinomatosis was confirmed. But due to pneumonia and respiratory failure, the patient died 64 days after admission. The outcome for patients with leptomeningeal carcinomatosis is extremely poor.