Carcinoma of the Pituitary Gland with Metastases to the Spinal Cord and Roots of the Cauda Equina

p ITUITARY tumors of a mal ignant nature are u n c o m m o n and, for the mos t par t , rarely metastasize. While local invasive tendencies occur with bo th malign a n t and nonmal ignant neoplasms of the chromophobe type, d is tant spread either by the blood s t ream or by the cerebrospinalfluid channels occurs with extreme rari ty. Metas ta t i c deposits have been discovered in the liver and lungs in mos t of the reported cases with disseminated lesions, h n p l a n t a t ion into the d is tan t areas of the spinal canal has been reported in only ~ cases. 3,Is I t is the purpose of this communica t ion to review briefly the available reports on metas ta t ic carc inoma of the p i tu i ta ry gland and to present 1 pa t ien t with spread of the tumor by means of the subarachnoid fluid to the roots of the cauda equina. The m a n a g e m e n t of this pa t ien t t rea ted by means of laminectomy, rh izo tomy and radiat ion will be discussed.