CASE REPORT article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neuro-Ophthalmology
This article is part of the Research TopicNeuro-Ophthalmology - Case Report Collection 2025-2026View all 6 articles
Neuro-ophthalmic Presentation of Leptomeningeal Metastasis of Thymoma: A Case Report
Provisionally accepted- 1King Edward Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan
- 2Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, United States
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Abstract Introduction Leptomeningeal disease (LMD) of the brain and spinal cord can present with visual loss or diplopia. Although LMD can occur in many forms of neoplasia, thymoma-related LMD is exceedingly rare. Patient presentation A 53-year-old Hispanic male with a history of chest pain, weight loss, and night sweats was diagnosed with Stage 4 thymoma with lung and pleural metastasis. He received chemotherapy for metastatic thymoma. Few months later, patient presented with severe right-sided facial pain and lip numbness, ptosis and double vision. Primary diagnosis The patient was diagnosed with multiple cranial and spinal nerve involvement due to thymomatous LMD, confirmed on magnetic resonance imaging and lumbar puncture. Conclusion and Importance LMD is a rare presentation of a malignant thymoma. Current guidelines for thymoma management emphasize the importance of staging imaging to rule out distant metastasis. Our case highlights the importance of a head-to-mid-thigh positron emission tomography (PET) scan in patients with known metastatic thymomas, with multiple PET scans, if possible, at regular intervals, owing to the aggressive nature of metastatic thymomas. Clinicians should be aware of
Keywords: Cranial nerve palsy, Leptomeningeal disease, metastatic thymoma, Thymic carcinoma, Thymoma
Received: 15 Jan 2026; Accepted: 13 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Khan, Abid, Abdelsalam, Ibrahim and Lee. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Andrew Lee
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