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. 2018 Mar 21;5(3):000780.
doi: 10.12890/2018_000780. eCollection 2018.

Thymic Carcinoma Associated with Cerebellar Degeneration

Affiliations

Thymic Carcinoma Associated with Cerebellar Degeneration

Irene García Cuartero et al. Eur J Case Rep Intern Med. .

Abstract

We present the case of a 57-year-old man with ataxia and clinical and radiological features of cerebellar degeneration. Computed tomography showed a mediastinal mass and the patient was diagnosed with thymic carcinoma. Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration is aninfrequent disorder and its association with thymic carcinoma very rare.

Learning points: Unexplained subacute neurological symptoms in an adult patient should beconsidered in the possibility of a paraneoplastic syndrome. In patients over 50 years of age, acute or subacute cerebellar degeneration is paraneoplastic in 50% of cases.Small-cell lung cancer is the most common cancer-causing paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD). Despite this, mediastinal tumours such as thymus neoplasms should not be ruled out in the differential diagnosis.Antineuronal antibodies are not detected in 40% of patients with PCD, sothe exclusion of other aetiologies or the demonstration of cancer formsthe basis of the final diagnosis.

Keywords: Thymic carcinoma; cerebellar degeneration; paraneoplastic syndrome.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interests: The Authors declare that there are no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Computed tomography revealing a mass in the anterior mediastinal space
Figure 2
Figure 2
Groups of epithelial cells with extensive cytoplasm and nuclei showing nucleoli; H&E, ×40 (top). Component of small-cell undifferentiated carcinoma showing nuclear artefacts; H&E, ×20 (bottom)

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