Keywords:
Metastases, Radiation therapy / Oncology, CT, Neuroradiology brain
Authors:
G. Rebella1, N. Romano2, L. R. Saitta2, L. Roccatagliata1, L. Castellan1; 1Genoa/IT, 2Genova/IT
DOI:
10.26044/ecr2019/C-0577
Conclusion
To the best of our knowledge this is the largest reported series of patients with CBM.
Deck et al report CBM to be 3,5% of cases (3),
while in our series we observed a frequency of 8,2% of CBM ab initio; such higher frequency is likely due to the higher sensitivity of today’s CT scanners.
Another 8,8% of CBM were identified after RT.
It is known that RT may activate the process of calcification,
while the process behind ab initio CBM is not completely clear (1).
The possible role of chemotherapic agents is speculative and must be further investigated (4).
Moreover ab initio CBM seem to have a slower progression than typical brain metastases (5).
In conclusion,
CBM are more common than usually thought and 8,2% of cases are present ab initio.
To avoid delay in diagnosis of brain metastatic disease,
calcification should not be overlooked,
especially in cancer patients.