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Mental neuropathy from systemic cancer

Division of Neurology (Drs. Massey and Schold) and the Division of Hematology and Oncology (Dr. Moore), Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC.

Nineteen patients with mental neuropathy secondary to systemic cancer are described. In nine patients, the numb chin was the presenting symptom of a neoplasm. Nine patients had lymphoreticular malignancies, and the others had a variety of solid tumors. Radiograms of the mandible were abnormal in 5 of 12 patients. The cerebrospinal fluid contained malignant cells in two. Resolution, complete or partial, occurred in 16 of 19 patients receiving radiation or chemotherapy, including 8 who received chemotherapy alone. Sixteen of the 19 patients died within 17 months of the onset of the neuropathy. A nontraumatic mental neuropathy should initiate a search for cancer.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Massey, Division of Neurology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.

Accepted for publication January 27, 1981.

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