Multiple intracranial melanoma metastases: case report and review of the literature

Abstract

Although intracerebral metastases of malignant melanoma are common, those located in the sellar region and within the pontocerebellar area are extremely rare. Furthermore, to our knowledge, there is no report about melanoma metastasis to the epiphysis published so far. We report here a 46-year-old patient who had metastatic lesions in the sellar region, cerebellopontine area and epiphysial gland, preceded by a primary melanoma at her left shoulder. The diagnosis of sellar metastasis was confirmed histopathologically following a stereotactic biopsy. The patient received whole-brain irradiation therapy combined with chemotherapy. After 10 months, she died from a severe hemorrhage in the cerebellopontine angle. Autopsy findings confirmed melanoma metastases both in the cerebellopontine angle and additionally in the epiphysial gland. To our knowledge, this is the first case of multiple intracranial melanoma metastases including the suprasellar region, the pontocerebellar and epiphysial area.