[A very rare autopsy case of metastatic brain tumor originating from ureteral cancer].

We report here a very rare case of metastatic brain tumor originating from ureteral cancer which was verified at autopsy. An 88-year-old elderly woman was admitted to our department because of recurrent convulsions which started in March, 1987. Following this episode, right hemiparesis and speech disturbance appeared on June 6, 1987. Neurological examinations at admission on August 12, 1987 showed slightly disturbed consciousness, motor dominant aphasia, and dysphasia. Enhanced CT scan demonstrated a large tumor in the left frontal lobe with perifocal edema, and a small mass in the right frontal lobe (Fig. 1). Left carotid angiogram showed downward displacement of the middle cerebral artery complex at the Sylvian portion. After admission, she developed marked distention of the abdomen, with occurrence of hematuria followed by aggravation of respiration and consciousness. She died on September 2, 1987. Removal of metastatic brain tumor had not been performed due to the poor general condition of the patient. An autopsy was permitted. A coronal section of the cerebrum clearly demonstrated a large tumor in the left frontal lobe with small mass in the right frontal lobe (Fig. 2). Kidney and the ureter at the right side showed hydronephrosis and hydroureter because of the presence of ipsilateral ureteral tumor at the distal end (Fig. 3). Microscopical findings verified that the metastatic brain tumor was a transitional cell carcinoma, which was, histologically, completely the same as the ureteral tumor (Fig. 4, 5). No case of metastatic brain tumor originating from ureteral cancer has yet been reported, as far as the authors know.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)