Visuo-proprioceptive interactions in degenerative cervical spine diseases requiring surgery.

Cervical proprioception plays a key role in postural control, but its specific contribution is controversial. Postural impairment was shown in whiplash injuries without demonstrating the sole involvement of the cervical spine. The consequences of degenerative cervical spine diseases are underreported in posture-related scientific literature in spite of their high prevalence. No report has focused on the two different mechanisms underlying cervicobrachial pain: herniated discs and spondylosis. This study aimed to evaluate postural control of two groups of patients with degenerative cervical spine diseases with or without optokinetic stimulation before and after surgical treatment. Seventeen patients with radiculopathy were recruited and divided into two groups according to the spondylotic or discal origin of the nerve compression. All patients and a control population of 31 healthy individuals underwent a static posturographic test with 12 recordings; the first four recordings with the head in 0° position: eyes closed, eyes open without optokinetic stimulation, with clockwise and counter clockwise optokinetic stimulations. These four sensorial situations were repeated with the head rotated 30° to the left and to the right. Patients repeated these 12 recordings 6weeks postoperatively. None of the patients reported vertigo or balance disorders before or after surgery. Prior to surgery, in the eyes closed condition, the herniated disc group was more stable than the spondylosis group. After surgery, the contribution of visual input to postural control in a dynamic visual environment was reduced in both cervical spine diseases whereas in a stable visual environment visual contribution was reduced only in the spondylosis group. The relative importance of visual and proprioceptive inputs to postural control varies according to the type of pathology and surgery tends to reduce visual contribution mostly in the spondylosis group.

[Orbital metastasis]. / Métastases orbitaires.

Orbital metastases are uncommon, accounting for 4% of all adult orbital tumors. The mean age at time of presentation is 60 years. The primary tumor is most often a carcinoma involving the breast (40%), lung (11%), or prostate (8%). Proptosis is the main clinical sign at diagnosis and is often associated with visual impairment, pain or ptosis. Imaging features are not specific; nevertheless, an enhanced extraconal tumor with osteolysis suggests the diagnosis. From a pathological point of view, there are no differences between the metastasis and the primary tumor. Regarding the average survival, the gold standard treatment remains radiotherapy.

[Orbital tumors arising from paranasal sinuses]. / Tumeurs orbitaires d'origine sinusienne.

Orbital tumors arising from paranasal sinuses comprise mucoceles and malignant ethmoidal tumors. Most often, anamnestic, clinical, and radiological data as well as endoscopic biopsy performed by an ENT surgeon provide the preoperative diagnosis. If the tumor is benign, surgery can cure the patient. It is associated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy if the tumor is malignant.

[Primary bone tumors of the orbit]. / Tumeurs primitives des parois osseuses orbitaires.

Primary orbital bone tumors account for 0.6-2% of all orbital tumors. This is a heterogeneous group of tumors arising from osseous, cartilaginous, fibrous, and vascular tissues. The two most commonly encountered lesions are fibrous dysplasia and osteoma. Treatment of the primitive orbital bone tumors is generally surgical.

[Sphenoorbital meningiomas]. / Méningiomes sphéno-orbitaires.

Sphenoorbital meningiomas account for 20% of all orbital tumors treated by neurosurgeons. Proptosis is the main clinical sign but this can be reduced with accurate surgical management. Complete tumor removal is often difficult considering the frequent extensions of the meningioma to the superior orbital fissure, the cavernous sinus, and the periorbita.

[Mesenchymal orbital tumors]. / Tumeurs orbitaires d'origine mésenchymateuse.

Mesenchymal tumors grow from pluripotent mesenchymal cells that form the soft orbital tissue. Primary tumors of the orbital walls are discussed in another section. Tumors from muscle and adipose tissue are rare or exceptional, except rhabdomyosarcoma, described in the section dedicated to pediatric tumors. Most frequent tumors are fibrous histiocytomas and solitary fibrous tumors, which often have a retrobulbar location. Fibrous histiocytoma is benign in only 65 % of cases. Fibrous solitary tumor is now better known (Ag CD34): this tumor is generally benign but frequently recurs.

[Intraorbital schwannomas and solitary neurofibromas]. / Les schwannomes et neurofibromes solitaires intraorbitaires.

Intraorbital schwannomas and solitary neurofibromas account for 2 to 5% of all operated intraorbital tumors. Without any known neurofibromatosis, their diagnosis is only suggested with the MRI data, which displays a heterogeneous signal that may mimic a cavernous angioma. Their treatment is solely surgical.

[Subdural empyema in children: therapeutic strategy. Five cases]. / Empyèmes sous-duraux de l'enfant: stratégie thérapeutique. A propos de cinq cas.

We report a series of five subdural empyema (SDE) in children and young adults treated in the same neurosurgical department. These five cases were reviewed retrospectively. There were four boys and one girl, aged from three months to 18 years at time of diagnosis (median age: 7 years). SDE following intracranial surgery were excluded from the study. All patients were treated surgically (burr hole evacuation or craniotomy, repeated in some cases), followed by intravenous antibiotic therapy (mean time: 52 days) adapted to the micro-organism. Only the two patients treated by large craniotomy at first had a single surgical procedure. Involved micro-organisms are as follow: Streptococcus intermedius (n=2), Streptococcus pneumoniae (n=1), Escherichia coli (n=1), absence of any identified micro-organism (n=1). The five patients are alive (median follow-up: 22 month) without any sequelae. We advocate an aggressive surgical treatment of SDE in children with a large bone flap to allow the surgeon to remove pus and membranes as much as possible, even in the interhemispheric fissure, followed by intravenous appropriate antibiotherapy and eradication of the source of infection. Even this "aggressive" treatment may sometimes not avoid re-operation. A careful follow-up is mandatory, because of the high risk of recurrence.