Background: Choriocarcinoma is a subtype of gestational trophoblastic disease, gestational trophoblastic neoplasia. Patients with brain metastasis are rare and information on the optimal treatment and patient outcome is limited. In order to improve the prognosis of this disease, accurate and timely treatments are very important for the patient of brain metastasis by choriocarcinoma.
Case summary: A 17-year-old unmarried girl was misdiagnosed with a cerebral hemangioma with intracranial hemorrhage in a local hospital after presentation with severe head pain. She underwent craniotomy three times for treatment. The pathological results of posterior intracranial hematoma showed choriocarcinoma, and the patient was diagnosed as choriocarcinoma (21 points in stage IV). After uterine artery embolization, etoposide, methotrexate, actinomycin D, cyclophosphamide, and vincristine chemotherapy for 7 cycles, and whole brain radiotherapy, the patient achieved remission. She has been followed for 2 years with no signs of tumor recurrence.
Conclusion: For female patients of childbearing age with an intracranial hematoma, the possibility of brain metastasis by choriocarcinoma should be considered. It is necessary to obtain a detailed history, including menstruation, beginning age of first sex, contraception, etc. The level of β-human chorionic gonadotropin should be tested at the beginning, and a stratified treatment should be administered according to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics staging and World Health Organization prognostic scoring systems.
Keywords: Brain metastasis; Case report; Chemotherapy; Choriocarcinoma; Craniotomy; Uterine artery embolization; Whole brain radiotherapy.
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