Lumbosacral radiculopathy secondary to metastatic melanoma of unknown primary

Abstract

Lumbosacral radiculopathy secondary to spinal malignancy is rare. Spinal melanoma withouh cutaneous manifestations is even more unusual. We present the case of a 60-year-old man, with a history of chronic back pain who presented with increasing back pain with right radiculophaty despite conservative management for 10 months. Magnetic resonance showed a destructive lesion of the sacrum. The patient underwent posterior vertebrectomy. Surgical pathology study results showed metastatic melanoma of unknown primary. The patient had no cutaneous manifestation of the disease. This is the second reported case of radiculopathy due to melanoma metastatic to the lumbar spine. We emphasize the importance of including malignancy of lumbar spine in the differential diagnosis of progressive lower back pain with radiculopathy.