Bone metastases from bronchial carcinoid tumors. Two case-reports.

Two case-reports of metastatic bone disease in patients with bronchial carcinoid tumors illustrate the diagnostic challenges raised by these slowly-growing malignancies of which the primary frequently escapes early identification. The first patient had the typical picture of a primary with a single bone metastasis. Unusual features in the second patient were the large number of bone metastases, involvement of distal skeletal sites, and elevation of serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid levels.