Subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord concomitant with gastric cancer

We report a rare case of subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord concomitant with gastric cancer. A 67-year-old man was admitted because of posterior column symptoms, pyramidal tract sign and peripheral neuropathy with severe hyperchromic anemia. He was treated with mecobalamin 1 mg IM, after which his anemia and neurological signs recovered. He was diagnosed as having subacute combined degeneration with pernicious anemia. Subsequent stomach biopsy revealed gastric cancer, and the patient underwent gastrectomy. It is a well known association that chronic atrophic gastritis is associated with gastric cancer or subacute combined degeneration. Our findings suggest that in this case subacute combined degeneration and gastric cancer are independent of each other; rather, both resulted from chronic atrophic gastritis.