When dizziness becomes sinister: Oropharyngeal carcinoma presenting as a paraneoplastic neurological disorder

Abstract

Paraneoplastic neurological disorders are uncommon presentations of head and neck cancers. We present a case of a 68-year-old male patient who presented with dizziness, nausea and memory problems. MRI of his brain showed bilateral cerebellar leptomeningeal enhancing signal abnormality with cervical lymphadenopathy. CT imaging of his neck raised the suspicion of a tonsillar primary, which was later confirmed on biopsy. His poorly differentiated HPV positive squamous cell carcinoma was treated with chemoradiotherapy. Subsequent MRI imaging showed progressive cerebellar atrophy and his presenting symptoms persisted, but he remained disease free 6 months post-treatment for his primary malignancy.