Neuroimaging and clinical characteristics of brain metastases from esophageal carcinoma in Chinese patients

Objective: The objective was to describe the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical characteristics of brain metastases from esophageal carcinoma diagnosed in patients from the Zhejiang Province of China, in order to provide a useful reference for the future diagnosis and treatment of similar patients. Materials and Methods: Medical data were obtained for 31 patients who received treatment for brain metastases from esophageal carcinoma at the Zhejiang Provincial Cancer Hospital between January 1998 and July 2013. For this retrospective analysis, the primary tumors were pathologically confirmed. In addition, 6 cases had both pathologic records of brain metastasis events and complete MRI records available. Survival follow-up data were also obtained. Results: Thirty-one patients (30 males, 1 female) with a total of 62 tumors were diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma (n = 26), adenocarcinoma (n = 3), and small cell carcinoma (n = 2). While most patients complained of movement disturbance (51.6%) and headaches (32.3%), MRI characterized tumors with cystic elements (80.6%), tumors with thin cyst walls and enhancement (59.7%), and tumors with a peripheral edema zone <2 cm in diameter (59.7%). Moreover, a major radiological indicator for prognosis was a shift of midline. Conclusion: Most of the patients with brain metastases from esophageal carcinoma were male. Furthermore, many of the T1-weighted MRI images detected thin wall, enhanced single or multiple cystic lesions with an edema zone <2 cm in diameter. These imaging characteristics may represent this type of brain metastasis.