The natural history of lumbosacral plexopathy in cancer

Kurt A. Jaeckle, Dean F. Young, Kathleen M. Foley

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

151 Scopus citations

Abstract

We studied 85 cancer patients with lumbosacral plexopathy and documented pelvic tumor by CT or biopsy. Three clinical syndromes were delineated: lower (L4-S1), 51%; upper (L1-L4), 31%; and pan-plexopathy (L1-S3), 18%. Seventy percent of patients had the insidious onset of pelvic or radicular leg pain, followed weeks to months later by sensory symptoms and weakness. The quintet of leg pain, weakness, edema, rectal mass, and hydronephrosis suggests plexopathy due to cancer. CT showed pelvic tumor in 96%. On myelography, epidural extension, usually below the conus medullaris, was seen in 45%. With treatment, only 28% of patients had objective responses on CT and 17% on examination.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)8-15
Number of pages8
JournalNeurology
Volume35
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1985

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Neurology

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