[Postoperative brain metastasis from esophageal carcinomas: report of 4 cases]

Out of 83 cases received resection of primary esophageal lesion, 4 patients were affected by metastatic brain tumor which was reported to rarely occur. All 4 patients had symptoms of central nervous system. Three of them were diagnosed by CT and the other one at autopsy. All of the primary esophageal tumors were advanced and of histological stage III or IV. They located in the middle or lower thoracic esophagus. Brain tumor of one case was removed and this case was of progression free at the last presentation. The other 3 cases were not received resection of metastatic brain tumors and died. All of 3 were autopsied and two of them had no metastasis in the lung. Therefore, it was considered that these hematogenic metastases were not through lung filtrations but through other routes, which Batson O. V. experimentally proved and designated as vertebral vein system in 1940. It is concluded that aggressive surgical intervention to metastatic brain tumors was beneficial with regard to prognosis for cases without other metastatic lesions.