Intramedullary spinal cord metastasis from mammary carcinoma

Metastases to the substance of the spinal cord are almost certainly more frequent than generally supposed. The majority of previously reported cases have been bronchogenic primaries and only three have been from mammary carcinomas. The case of a 47-year-old woman who became paraplegic eight years after radical mastectomy for carcinoma of the breast is reported. An episode of herpes zoster in the fourth thoracic dermatome preceded the onset of paraplegia. At necropsy there were widespread metastases in many organs. A solitary metastasis was found in the thoracic cord extending from T3 to T6 and extending into a dorsal nerve root at T4