Abstract
Metastatic involvement of the cranial base and jugular foramen generally presents
with headache and lower cranial neuropathy but may escape early diagnosis. In this
report, a patient developed a jugular foramen syndrome as the initial presentation
of metastatic lung cancer soon after being diagnosed and treated surgically for extracranial
atherosclerotic internal carotid artery disease. With the appropriate diagnosis established,
he underwent local fractionated radiation therapy and systemic chemotherapy but succumbed
to the disease. This report analyses metastatic disease affecting the cranial base
and in particular, the jugular foramen, with a discussion of the clinical syndromes
that accompany this rare condition.
Keywords
skull base metastasis - cranial nerve palsy - Collet–Sicard syndrome - soil and seed
hypothesis
