Fonsecaea associated cerebral phaeohyphomycosis in a post-COVID-19 patient: A first case report.

Phaeohyphomycosis, previously known as chromoblastomycosis, is a chronic mycosis, usually affecting the skin. It is caused by dematiaceous fungi, which are a group of fungi that produce melanin in their cell walls. Cerebral phaeohyphomycosis occurs as a part of invasive presentation of the fungi, which usually affects immunocompromised patients, but may affect immunocompetent individuals as well. Cerebral infection in phaeohyphomycosis is associated with a poor prognosis regardless of the immune status of the patient. COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or medications used for its treatment may compromise the immune system, including in the post-COVID-19 period, resulting in invasive fungal infections, which have frequently been reported recently during the COVID-19 pandemic. We report a case of Fonsecaea associated cerebral phaeohyphomycosis in a recently diagnosed diabetic Omani lady, who presented to our hospital 6 weeks after recovery and discharge from hospitalization for moderate COVID-19 pneumonia.

Proboscis lateralis: A case report of a rare giant craniofacial teratoma in an infant.

Teratomas can occur in almost any region of the body and are the most common extragonadal germ cell childhood tumors. However, craniofacial teratomas are rare. Craniofacial teratomas can present unique features and cause significant functional and aesthetic concerns. There are complex lesions that can have components intra-cranially and extra-cranially. Therefore, their management requires significant multi-stage multidisciplinary surgical procedures. Herein, we present a case of craniofacial teratoma in a child with the phenotype of proboscis lateralis that highlights some of the pertinent point of the diagnosis and management of congenital neonatal teratomas.

Rare Aggressive Calvarial Osteoblastoma with Dural Invasion.

We report a rare case of an aggressive osteoblastoma (OB) involving the calvaria and infiltrating the dura, a finding that was not previously reported in the literature. A 50-year-old man presented with a progressive mass in the left frontoparietal skull with headaches and a six-month history of sudden mass growth. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a large skull lesion with areas of hemorrhage, calcification, restricted diffusion, and enhancement.  A left temporoparietal craniotomy with a complete resection of the tumor with grossly clean margins was performed. Follow-up at 60 months showed a stable clinical picture and no sign of local recurrence of the lesion on MRI.

Communicating hydrocephalus and vestibular schwannomas: etiology, treatment, and long-term follow-up.

Background Large vestibular schwannomas (VSs) can cause hydrocephalus by obstructing the fourth ventricle. Little is known about the communicating hydrocephalus that is seen with a smaller VS. Methods The clinicopathological findings and follow up of three patients with communicating hydrocephalus associated with a small VS are presented. Results Four patients aged 40 to 66 years (mean: 57.7) presented with ataxia, dementia, and urinary incontinence. The VS were 2.0 to 2.4 cm. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein was elevated in three patients in whom it was measured (1.7 to 6 times normal). The VS was resected in two patients. All of the patients required ventriculoperitoneal shunting (VPS). All of the patients were asymptomatic or improved at follow-up at 9 months to 13 years. Conclusion Communicating hydrocephalus associated with a VS can occur in younger patients than was previously thought. An elevated CSF protein appears to be important, but other factors may be involved. A shunting procedure is often required to relieve the symptoms of hydrocephalus even if the tumor is resected. Possible etiological causes of communicating hydrocephalus in patients with a small VS are discussed.

Rarest of the rare: Chordoid glioma infiltrating the optic chiasm.

BACKGROUND: Chordoid glioma is a rare brain tumor typically located within the anterior third ventricle. It is a well-circumscribed, non-infiltrative tumor that grows as a mass within the ventricle. CASE DESCRIPTION: We present the case of a 50-year-old woman with a chordoid glioma located in the anterior third ventricle. Unusually, MRI revealed an enlarged optic chiasm. Histological sampling of the chiasm revealed tumor invasion. CONCLUSION: Involvement of the optic apparatus is generally thought to be an imaging feature that can be used to distinguish chordoid gliomas from optic/hypothalamic gliomas. This case provides the first reported exception to this dogma.

Comparison between manual and semiautomated volumetric measurements of pituitary adenomas.

Linear measurements have many limitations. The aim of this study is to compare manual and semiautomated volumetric measurements of pituitary adenomas. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of 38 patients with pituitary adenomas were analyzed. Preoperative MRI was acquired on a 1.5 T. MRI volumes of the pituitary adenomas were obtained by two methods: manual (MA) and semiautomated (SA). The concurrent validity for SA and MA methods on 38 patients in the form of correlation coefficient was 0.97 (p < 0.0001). The intraobserver and the interobserver correlation coefficients for SA volumes were both 0.98, as for the intraobserver MA volumes were 0.98. Although the results of both methods are comparable, analysis of volumetric measurements by SA method is more time-efficient than MA segmentation. Precision in volumetric measurement techniques is likely to increase reliability of posttherapeutic monitoring of pituitary adenomas.

Memory outcome after temporal lobe epilepsy surgery: corticoamygdalohippocampectomy versus selective amygdalohippocampectomy.

OBJECT: The aim of this study was to compare IQ and memory outcomes at the 1-year follow-up in patients with medically refractory mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) due to hippocampal sclerosis. All patients were treated using a corticoamygdalohippocampectomy (CAH) or a selective amygdalohippocampectomy (SelAH). METHODS: The data of 256 patients who underwent surgery for MTLE were retrospectively evaluated. One hundred twenty-three patients underwent a CAH (63 [right side] and 60 [left side]), and 133 underwent an SelAH (61 [right side] and 72 [left side]). A comprehensive neuropsychological test battery was assessed before and 1 year after surgery, and the results were compared between the surgical procedures. Furthermore, seizure outcome was compared using the Engel classification scheme. RESULTS: At 1-year follow-up, there was no statistically significant difference between the surgical approaches with respect to seizure outcome. Overall, IQ scores showed improvement, but verbal IQ decreased after left SelAH. Verbal memory impairment was seen after left-sided resections especially in cases of SelAH, and nonverbal memory decreased after right-sided resection, especially for CAH. Left-sided resections produced some improvement in nonverbal memory. Older age at surgery, longer duration of seizures, greater seizure frequency before surgery, and poor seizure control after surgery were associated with poorer memory. CONCLUSIONS: Both CAH and SelAH can lead to several cognitive impairments depending on the side of the surgery. The authors suggest that the optimal type of surgical approach should be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Atypical language lateralization in patients with left hippocampal sclerosis: does the hippocampus affect language lateralization?

AIM: To provide information related to atypical language activations (right or bilateral) in positron emission tomography in patients with left clear-cut hippocampal sclerosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twelve right-handed patients who had been operated on left-sided hippocampal sclerosis and 12 right-handed normal subjects were included and the synonym generation task was used for evaluation of language lateralization. RESULTS: Atypical language activations were frequently found in the patients compared to the controls. A total of 3 (25%) subjects in the controls showed atypical activations: 2 bilateral with right and 1 bilateral with left-sided activations. There were no clear right-sided Broca activations in the control group but almost 25% of the patients showed clear right-sided Broca activations. In the patients the incidence of atypical language activations was 91.6% (11 patients). CONCLUSION: From the present study, it is clear that functional reorganization of the language-related neuronal network is modified in patients with left hippocampal sclerosis. Although the lesion is far from the primary language-related areas, atypical language lateralization is common in these patients and this should be considered in preoperative period.

Subgaleal migration of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt.

Blockage of a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt is very common. Here, we describe an unusual case of shunt blockage in an infant. He was shunted for hydrocephalus associated with a Dandy-Walker malformation diagnosed at birth. At surgery, the entire VP shunt was found to have migrated into the subgaleal space, which clinically presented as shunt obstruction. We suggest techniques to avoid this rare, but preventable, complication of shunt surgery.