A Malignant Tumor of the Left Tibial Nerve

Malignant tumors of the deeper nerve trunks are rare and their classification is uncertain. This is one reason why a report is made of the case described below. Another reason is that the microscopic preparations from this specimen show many peculiarities of more general interest. Case Report (With brief resume of the clinical observations made by Dr. Salen) The patient was a man thirty-one years of age, who had always been in good health. In January 1932, when reaching up, with the full weight of the body on the toes of the left foot, he felt a sudden pain in the foot. He experienced no subsequent discomfort until the autumn of 1932, when pressure against the 2nd toe of the left foot caused pain. He also observed a slight swelling there. The pain, which gradually spread to the calf of the leg and the back of the thigh, was sometimes very severe, being worse at night. About the middle of October a painful, though not tender tumor was observed behind the left knee. In the autumn of 1933 the patient found that he could not flex the toes of his left foot. His general health was also affected in the course of the autumn, he begun to lose flesh, and was therefore admitted to the Sabbatsberg Hospital on Nov. 27. He stated that the tumor at the back of his left knee had not increased in size since he first noticed it. In the hospital the presence of metastatic growths in the lungs was established. The patient grew rapidly worse. On Dec. 12 diplopia appeared, and death occurred on Dec. 16.