Solitary upper thoracic vertebral metastasis as an initial presentation of pancreatic cancer: A case report

Abstract

The spine represents an unusual site of pancreatic metastatic disease, while the exact incidence of this metastatic lesion is unclear. An extremely rare case of bone painful blastic metastatic lesion at the fourth thoracic vertebra, as a first mani-festation of pancreatic cancer, is reported in the current study. A 54-year-old man was complaining of upper thoracic spinal pain that lasted the previous 4 months. A CT scan revealed a soli-tary, sclerotic, bone lesion of the body of the fourth thoracic (T4) vertebra, indicating a benign lesion. A consequent MRI scan of the thoracic spine confirmed the sclerotic lesion along with additional findings, such as bone marrow edema of the vertebra and a paraspinal and epidural soft tissue mass. Biopsy of the T4 vertebra lesion revealed metastatic lesion of pancreatic origin. A CT scan of the upper abdomen confirmed the diagnosis. This is a rare case, since the only initial symptom of pancreatic cancer was pain of the upper spine, while the first imaging was misleading, indicating a lesion that was benign in nature.