[Carcinomatous meningitis in gastric cancer under chemotherapy-two cases]

The development of chemotherapy to treat gastric cancer has prolonged its prognosis, and sometimes extremely rare conditions arise. This report describes two patients with carcinomatous meningitis who rapidly progressed into unconsciousness and died. A 60-year-old woman under second-line chemotherapy for gastric cancer presented with headache and disordered speech. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indicated carcinomatous meningitis, and a lumbar puncture revealed cancer cells in the cerebrospinal fluid. Convulsions rapidly progressed while unconscious, and the patient died two weeks after admission. A 67-year-old man receiving adjuvant chemotherapy after total gastrectomy for gastric cancer was admitted to the emergency department with severe fatigue and appetite loss. Unconsciousness rapidly progressed on the following day and carcinomatous meningitis was diagnosed. The patient died two weeks later. Carcinomatous meningitis is a rare complication of gastric cancer that rapidly progresses often to death, and it should be recalled that it is accompanied by a rapid loss of consciousness.