Thyroid carcinoma presenting as a dural metastasis mimicking a meningioma: A case report

Follicular thyroid cancer rarely manifests itself as a distant metastatic lesion.

We report a case of a 41-year old man presented with a solid mass located in the left temporo-occipital region. The 3D computed tomography showed a large solid mass with high vascularity, skull erosion and supra-infratentorial epidural mass effect. After magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) a suspect diagnosis of meningioma was made. The patient underwent surgery where a soft mass with transverse sinus invasion was encountered; the tumour was successfully resected employing microsurgical techniques. Histological examination revealed a thyroid follicular neoplasm with positive staining for follicular carcinoma in immunohistochemical analysis. Postoperatively levels of thyroid hormones were normal. Treatment was planned for the thyroid gland, patient receiving 6 courses of chemotherapy including paclitaxel.

The present case emphasizes that although they are uncommon, dural metastasis can be mistaken for meningiomas. The definitive diagnosis of a meningioma should be established only after the histopathological analysis. Thyroid follicular carcinoma should be included in the differential diagnosis in cases of extrinsic tumoral lesions.