Subcutaneous Dissemination in Highly Aggressive Intracranial Glioblastoma: Case Report and Literature Review

Abstract

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly invasive and incurable primary central nervous system (CNS) tumor. Despite its aggressive behavior, extracranial metastases are rare, with an estimated incidence of less than 2%. In our literature review, we found only 21 reported cases of skin and soft tissue dissemination. We report a case of an early (two and a half months) postoperative skin and muscle flap-associated dissemination of a temporal glioblastoma. The particular aspect of this case, besides its rarity, is that the clinical presentation, the image reports and even the surgical findings were always in favor of a postoperative subdural empyema and epicranial abscesses. The diagnosis of soft tissue dissemination was only possible after negative microbiological cultures and histopathological confirmation of muscle and skin invasion by the tumor. This case illustrates the rare but potential risk of myocutaneous flap tumor dissemination through the durotomy/craniotomy site that can mimic a much more common, post-surgical infection.