Malignant meningioma with extension into the neck

One per cent of all brain tumours and twenty per cent of meningiomas eventually develop an extracranial extension. The least common site is the neck. We report a case of malignant meningioma with extension into the neck of a 39-year-old male.

Tuberculous encephalopathy: a rare complication of pulmonary tuberculosis

A case of tuberculous encephalopathy, a rare form of neurotuberculosis, is reported in a 16-year-old girl who had pulmonary tuberculosis and extensive cerebral demyelination. The clinical, laboratory and pathological features of this entity are highlighted and the pathogenesis discussed.

Metastatic carcinoma of the penis

Metastic carcinoma of the penis is uncommon. The primary tumour is most commonly reported to be in the genitourinary or gastrointestinal tract. A case of metastatic carcinoma of the penis, secondary to a primary carcinoma of the prostate gland, is described

Malignant triton tumour of the spine

A malignant triton tumour is a malignant schwannoma with rhabdomyoblastic differentiation, and is a very rare occurrence. We describe the case of a 33-year-old man with neurofibromatosis type 1 who presented with paraplegia. Pathological examination of an intradural, extramedullary tumour excised at lumbar laminectomy demonstrated a malignant schwannoma with rhabdomyoblastic differentiation. We believe this is the first documented case of a malignant triton tumour of the spine

Plexiform neurofibroma: a rare cause of obstructive jaundice

A case of obstructive jaundice secondary to a neurofibroma in the common hepatic duct is presented. The histological appearance was that of a plexiform neurofibroma. The clinicopathological features are discussed

Prognosis of neuroblastic tumours in children

A retrospective analysis of 26 children with neuroblastic tumours treated at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) between 1970 and 1991 was undertaken to evaluate factors affecting prognosis. The peak incidence was between 48 months and 60 months of age, and 75//of the deaths occurred in children older than 3 years. The abdomen was the most common site of the tumours 79//of which were from the adrenal gland and carried a dismal outcome. Other sites were thoracic, pelvic and cervical. Extra-adrenal tumours have a good outcome even when the histology is unfavourable; 92//of the tumours were in Stages III or IV at the time of initial presentation. Stage IV disease accounted for all but one of the deaths. Of the 8 children with favourable histology (ganglioneuroma or well-differentiated ganglioneuroblastoma), only one (12.5//) died, whereas of the remaining 18 cases with unfavourable histology (neuroblastoma and undifferentiated ganglioneuroblastoma), eleven (61//) died. When managed by surgery alone or with adjuvant chemo- and/or radio-therapy, only 36.4//succumbed while all 4 children with chemotherapy only died. Ten children are alive without disease for more than three years post-therapy. A scoring system was designed which takes into account the factors influencing the outcome in neuroblastic tumours, namely, age, location, stage and histological types of the tumours and therapy. All the children with a score of 21 or less survived, whereas all those with scores of 22 or above succumbed. This underlines the multifactorial influences on the final outcome of neuroblastic tumours

Portal vein thrombosis in a child with homozygous sickle-cell disease

A 13-year old boy with homozygous sickle-cell (SS) disease died suddenly at home folllowing a short history of abdominal pain. Autopsy revealed venous thrombosis of the hepatic, portal, superior mesenteric and splenic veins. Venous thrombosis is rare in SS disease and thrombosis of mesenteric vessels is most frequently seen in chronic myeloproliferative disorders. Its occurrence in SS disease raises the possibility of a common pathogenesis and adds another pathology to the causes of abdominal painful crisis.