Summary

Head drop syndrome (HDS) is due to pronounced weakness of paravertebral cervical extensor muscles, leading to a clinical syndrome, characterized by abnormal and excessive cervical kyphosis 1. HDS can be provoked by different neurodegenerative as Pakinso disease (PD), atypical parkinsonism, myastenia gtavis (MG), amyotrophic lateral sclerosi (ALS) and metabolic diseases 1-4. A wide spectrum of acquired and hereditary myopathies can present with HDS,buti it may occur as an isolated disorder, restricted to neck extensors without known underlying systemic disease, i.e isolated neck extensor myopathy 1,2. The association of HDS and paraneoplastic syndromes is rarely reported. The purpose of this report was to describe an unique case of HDS, manifesting in association with metastatic cutaneous melanoma.

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Authors

Giuliana Galassi - Department of Biomedical, Metabolic, and Neural Sciences, University of Modena, Modena, Italy

Alessandra Ariatti - Department of Biomedical, Metabolic, and Neural Sciences, University of Modena, Modena, Italy

Maria Lucia Valentino - Department of Biomedical, Metabolic, and Neural Sciences, University of Modena, Modena, Italy

Alberto Lugli - Division of Pathology, University Hospital of Modena, Modena, Italy

Alessandro Marchioni - Respiratory Disease Unit, University Hospiutal of Modena, Modena, Italy

Guido Ficarra - Division of Pathology, University Hospital of Modena, Modena, Italy

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Copyright (c) 2026 Acta Myologica

How to Cite
Galassi, G., Ariatti, A. ., Valentino , M. L. ., Lugli, A., Marchioni, A., & Ficarra , G. . (2026). Head drop myopathy in association with metastatic melanoma: a paraneoplastic syndrome?. Acta Myologica, 45(2-3). https://doi.org/10.36185/2532-1900-1032
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