Metastases of esophageal carcinoma to the skeletal muscle are rare, but the incidence may be increasing because of better diagnosis resulting from widespread use of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). A cohort of 205 patients with esophageal carcinoma treated at our center who had PET/CT between 2006 and 2010 was retrospectively evaluated for the presence of skeletal muscle metastases. Four patients had skeletal muscle metastases of esophageal carcinoma, including two patients with squamous cell carcinoma. In another patient with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus and synchronous skeletal muscle metastases, muscle metastases were subsequently shown to be related to second primary pancreatic adenocarcinoma. In all cases, skeletal muscle metastases were the first manifestation of systemic disease. In three patients palliation was obtained with the combination of external beam radiation therapy, systemic chemotherapy or surgical resection. Skeletal muscle metastases are a rare complication of esophageal carcinoma.

• Keywords
• Drug therapy, Esophageal neoplasms, Muscle, Positron-emission tomography, Radiotherapy, Skeletal,
• MeSH
• Adenocarcinoma diagnostic imaging   secondary   therapy   MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Fatal Outcome MeSH
• Muscle, Skeletal diagnostic imaging   pathology   MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Multimodal Imaging MeSH
• Esophageal Neoplasms diagnostic imaging   pathology   therapy   MeSH
• Muscle Neoplasms diagnostic imaging   secondary   therapy   MeSH
• Palliative Care MeSH
• Tomography, X-Ray Computed MeSH
• Positron-Emission Tomography MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Carcinoma, Squamous Cell diagnostic imaging   secondary   therapy   MeSH
• Treatment Outcome MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Case Reports MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH