Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 15, 2026

A Model for Perineural Invasion in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Published on: January 5, 2017
Diagnostic Challenge: Sequential Unilateral Cranial Neuropathies Due to Perineural Spread of Carcinoma
Heather E Moss1, Peter W MacIntosh1, Konstantin V Slavin2
1Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Abstract:
An 86-year old man developed sequential dysfunction of trigeminal (V1), facial, abducens, trigeminal (v2), oculomotor, and hypoglossal cranial nerves on the right over 20 months. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a lesion in the right cavernous sinus. Although there was clinical suspicion that this was related to perineural spread of an extracranial tumour, a primary lesion was not discovered. Stereotactic biopsies of the intracranial lesion were non-diagnostic, and the patient succumbed to his tumour following a period of rapid growth. Postmortem examination showed the intracranial lesion to be a carcinoma with squamous features. This case highlights the challenges of diagnosis of intracranial perineural spread and the potential for transformation from indolent to aggressive tumour behaviour.
Related Concept Videos
Spreading of Chromatin Modifications
Writers
The writer...
Cranial and Spinal Meninges
Cranial Meninges
These meningeal layers cover the cranium. The dura mater is the outermost layer of cranial meninges. It is a thick and durable membrane of dense...
Cranial Nerves: Types Part I
Olfactory Nerve (Cranial Nerve I)
The olfactory nerve, or cranial nerve I, is unique as it is purely sensory and dedicated to the sense of smell. This nerve originates in the olfactory epithelium of the...
Cranial Nerves: Types Part II
Facial Nerve (Cranial Nerve VII)
Cranial nerve VII, or the facial nerve,...
Cranial Part of Parasympathetic Division
The vagus nerve (cranial nerve X) alone accounts for approximately 75...
Cranial Nerves: Overview and Anatomy

