A Case of Cerebellar Hemangioma Mimicking Peripheral Vestibulopathy

Central vertigo of cerebellar origin may present the syndromes similar to those of peripheral vertigo such as vestibular neuronitis. The character of those vertigo syndrome depend on the location, extent, and the etiology of the lesion such as stroke, inflammation, mass. Cavernous hemangioma may be clinically silent, but can cause variable neurologic manifestations including central vertigo if it affects the vestibular system. We report a rare case of cerebellar cavernous hemangioma with the vertigo syndrome closely mimicked vestibular neuronitis.

Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma of the Spinal Cord

Hemangioendotheliomas are vascular neoplasms characterized by histologic appearance that are intermediate between hemangiomas and angiosarcomas first described by Weiss and Enzinger in 1982. They are classified into at least 3 subgroups, including epithelioid hemangioendothelioma, spindle cell hemangioendothelioma, and malignant endovascular angioendothelioma, and have been reported principally in soft tissues of the extremities, lung, liver, and bone. The cases involving the central nervous system reported are very rare. We report an intraspinal epithelioid hemangioendothelioma occurring in a 52-year-old man. To our knowledge, it is first case of spinal hemangioendothelioma in Korea.

Ultrastructural Differences between Inner and Outer Layers of Human Lumbar Ligamentum Flavum

No abstract available.

Comparison of Fusion Rate between Iliac Autograft versus Fibular Allograft in Instrumented Anterior Cervical Fusion

OBJECTIVE: The authors performed instrumented anterior cervical fusion with either iliac autograft or fibular allograft for various clinical entities. The purposes of the study are to compare the fusion rate and the time to fusion according to graft material, and to identify the factors affecting fusion. METHOD:57 patients underwent instrumented anterior cervical fusion during 3 years between Jan. 1995 and Dec. 1997, among them 31 patients with iliac autograft(autograft group), and 26 patients with freeze-dried fibular allograft (allograft group). The clinical entities were trauma(n=0), soft disc herniation(n=), spondylotic radiculopathy(n=1), spondylotic myelopathy(n=6), and ossified posterior longitudinal ligament(n=). The method of fusion was either interbody fusion confined to disc space or strut fusion after corpectomy. Outcomes were assessed for fusion status and time to fusion, and comparison between autograft group versus allograft group. RESULT: Between autograft and allograft group there were no differences in distribution of perioperative clinical variables such as patients' age and gender, clinical entity, method of fusion, and length of fusion as determined by the number of disc space fused. Mean follow-up period was 19 months(range 10-28 months) in autograft group and 16 months(range 8-22 months) in allograft group. The fusion rate was 90% in autograft group and 85% in allograft group(p=.691). The median time to fusion was 7 months in autograft group and 15 months in allograft group(p<0.001). The perioperative variables affecting fusion, defined as those being significantly associated with the time to fusion, were the graft material(p=.000) and the length of fusion(p=.007). The rate of graft-related complications including donor-site morbidity was 41% in autograft group and 8% in allograft group. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that the use of freeze-dried fibular allograft in instrumented anterior cervical fusion is, though the time to fusion is delayed more than two times, as an effective way as the use of iliac autograft to achieve fusion, and is a better way to ameliorate graft-related complications.