An interesting collection of paraneoplastic syndromes in a patient with a malignant thymoma

BMJ Case Rep. 2012 Jul 3:2012:bcr0220125790. doi: 10.1136/bcr.02.2012.5790.

Abstract

Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes are conditions that manifest as the remote effects of cancer. These are very rare, occurring in 1/10000 patients with a malignancy, and include Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, limbic encephalitis, subacute cerebellar ataxia, opsoclonus-myoclonus, Stiff-Person Syndrome, retinopathies, chronic gastrointestinal pseudo-obstruction and sensory neuropathy. This report describes a case of 41-year-old man who presented with elements of multiple paraneoplastic syndromes, including chronic gastrointestinal pseudo-obstruction, myasthenia gravis-Lambert-Eaton overlap syndrome and polymyositis, and who was subsequently found to have a malignant thymoma. There are only three reported cases in the literature describing cases of Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome in association with a thymoma, and only one case of a myasthenia gravis-Lambert-Eaton overlap syndrome in a patient with thymoma. However, there are no documented cases in the literature of this constellation of syndromes in a patient with a malignant thymoma.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Humans
  • Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction / etiology*
  • Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome / etiology*
  • Male
  • Myasthenia Gravis / etiology*
  • Polymyositis / etiology*
  • Thymectomy
  • Thymoma / complications*
  • Thymoma / diagnosis
  • Thymoma / surgery
  • Thymus Neoplasms / complications*
  • Thymus Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Thymus Neoplasms / surgery