Statistical shape analysis of the lentiform nucleus of children of different age groups: a retrospective study.

The basal nuclei are important during infancy because of the significant development of motor skills. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the shape differences of the lentiform nucleus between different age and gender groups. A total of 126 children's axial magnetic resonance image series were included in the presented study. These images were grouped between 1 and 5 yr old. Right and left lentiform nuclei are marked with selected landmarks using TPSDIG v2.04. Statistical shape analyses were examined by a Generalized Procrustes Analysis. Our results showed that there was no statistically significant difference in lentiform nucleus shape between genders. However, there was a difference between the shapes of the right and left lentiform nuclei between the 1-yr and 5-yr age groups. These results demonstrated the shape changes in the lentiform nucleus during the first 5 yr of life. Further clinical studies based on our results may be used to gather more detailed information about movement disorders and neuronal development.

Leptomeningeal dissemination and vertebral bone involvement in a child with pilocytic astrocytoma.

In low-grade glioma, metastasis is rarely seen. Few cases of leptomeningeal dissemination have been reported in children. Vertebral bone metastasis has not been reported so far. Herein is described the case of a pediatric patient with the diagnosis of pilocytic astrocytoma, and leptomeningeal dissemination detected at the time of diagnosis, who then received radiotherapy and chemotherapy upon development of vertebral bone metastasis during treatment.

General versus epidural anesthesia for lumbar microdiscectomy.

This study was a retrospective analysis of 850 lumbar microdiscectomy (LMD) under epidural anesthesia (EA; n=573) or general anesthesia (GA; n=277) performed by the same surgeon and paid by invoice to the Social Security Institution of the Turkish Republic between April 2003 and May 2013. Although GA is the most frequently used method of anesthesia during LMD, the choice of regional anesthetia (epidural, spinal or a combination of these) differs between surgeons and anesthetists. Studies have reported that EA in surgery for lumbar disc herniation may be more reliable than GA, as it enables the surgeon to communicate with the patient during surgery, but few studies have compared the costs of these two anesthetic methods in LMD. We found that EA patient costs were significantly lower than GA patient costs (p<0.01) and there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of the time spent in the operating room (p<0.01). There was no difference in the duration of surgery (p>0.05). The anesthetic method used during LMD affected the complication rate, cost and efficiency of operating room use. We suggest that EA is an anesthetic method that can contribute to health care cost savings and enable LMD to be completed with less nerve root manipulation and more comfort, efficacy, reliability and cost efficiency without affecting the success rate of the surgical procedure.

Multiple dural tuberculomas presenting as leptomeningeal carcinomatosis.

Objective and Importance. We present the rare occurrence of multiple dural-based tuberculomas mimicking leptomeningeal carcinomatosis in a young immunocompetent patient. Clinical Presentation. A 36-year-old man presented with a 2-month history of generalized epileptic activity and altered perception. Neurological examination was remarkable for bilateral Babinski's sign. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed multiple dural-based enhancing lesions with cerebral edema. Intervention. A right frontal craniotomy was performed for diagnosis. Histological examination revealed multiple confluent necrotizing and nonnecrotizing granulomas with giant cells which was consistent with tuberculosis (TB), and the patient was placed on anti-TB therapy for 24 months. Conclusion. To the best of our knowledge isolated diffuse involvement of the dura mater by TB, mimicking leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, as the sole manifestation of disease has not been reported before. Since pachymeningeal TB is rarely suspected when atypical radiological appearance is combined with the absence of systemic disease, biopsy is inevitably required for diagnosis.

Neuroprotective effects of postconditioning on lipid peroxidation and apoptosis after focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats.

AIM: Apoptosis after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury leads to the process of cell death. The deal therapeutic approach would target the apoptosis after I/R. Ischemic postconditioning is a recently discovered neuroprotective strategy that involves the application of brief mechanical reperfusion with a specific algorithm at the onset of reperfusion following an ischemic period. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Transient MCAo was performed on male SD (275+/-25 g) rats with intraluminal thread insertion for 2 hrs. Rats (n:36) were treated with postconditioning after 60 minutes of occlusion. The postconditioning algorithm was 30 secs of brief reperfusion followed by 30 secs of MCAo and this cycle was repeated 3 times at the onset of reperfusion. RESULTS: After I/R injury, % change of the malonyldialdehyde (MDA) levels in the cortex, which is an index of lipid peroxidation, was found significantly higher in the I/R group. On the other hand postconditioning upregulated Bcl-2 and Bax translocation to the mitochondria, and caspase-3 activity and also reduced oxidative stress levels. CONCLUSION: These findings indicated this neuroprotective effect is most likely achieved by antiapoptotic mechanisms through caspase pathways.

Analysis of intracranial pressure changes during early versus late percutaneous tracheostomy in a neuro-intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to investigate intracranial pressure (ICP) changes during early versus late bedside percutaneous tracheostomy (PT) in a neuro-intensive care unit (NICU). METHODS: This study included 30 patients admitted to our NICU for head trauma, subarachnoid haemorrhage, intracerebral haematoma or brain tumour with a Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) less than 8. These patients also underwent ICP monitoring. Bedside PT was performed either early (within 7 days of ventilation) or late (after 7 days of ventilation) via the Griggs system. In all patients; ICP, systemic blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation (Sat O(2)) and arterial blood gases were recorded 5 min before the procedure, during skin incision, during tracheal cannulation, as well as 5 min and 10 min after the procedure. FINDINGS: Thirty patients, 18 male and 12 female, with various intracranial pathologies between ages 18 and 78 (mean 38.7 +/- 20) were identified. The admission GCS ranged between 4 and 11 (median 7). Physiological variables did not differ significantly between the two groups. In the early group, ICP values measured 5 min before the procedure, during skin incision, during tracheal cannulation, as well as 5 min and 10 min after the procedure were 15.1 +/- 5.2, 22 +/- 10.1, 28.4 +/- 13.7, 17.3 +/- 7.1, 13.8 +/- 5.0 mmHg, respectively. In the late group, these values were 14.2 +/- 4.5, 17.2 +/- 5.5, 21.5 +/- 8.0, 15.1 +/- 5.3 and 12.4 +/- 4.1 mmHg. There was no significant difference between the early or late groups in terms of ICP increases during these predetermined 5 time points. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with decreased intracranial compliance, a relatively minimally invasive procedure such as PT may lead to significant increases in ICP. The timing of PT does not seem to influence ICP, mortality, pneumonia or early complications. During the PT procedure, ICP should be closely monitored and preventive strategies should be instituted in an attempt to prevent secondary insult to an already severely injured brain.

Is supratentorial pressure difference clinically relevant? Analysis of 55 consecutive cases by bilateral intracranial pressure monitoring.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to explore the possibilities of an early warning system by measuring intracranial pressure differences in order to prevent secondary insults to the injured brain. METHODS: Fifty-five cases with a Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score 8 or below who presented with intracranial hypertension due to various intracranial pathologies underwent bilateral intraparenchymatous intracranial pressure (ICP) monitorization in an attempt to find out the existence of interhemispheric pressure differences. ICP values were recorded every 30 minutes during the first 24 hour interval. Patients were stratified into two groups as diffuse and focal according to the magnitude of their pathologies. Focal cases were also grouped according to lesion size and/or midline shift. RESULTS: ICP differences that necessitated changes in the treatment were found at different time intervals in patients with focal lesions, but these did not reach statistical significance within the whole group (p > 0.05). There were significant percentage differences between focal I and II groups in correlation with lesion side and non-lesion side within the first 4.5 hours (p < 0.05). There was a significant difference within the first 3 hours between diffuse and focal II groups (p < 0.05). DISCUSSION: In patients with focal lesions, although more pronounced in focal II group, apparent pressure differences between two hemispheres within the first hours of admission were found. These pressure differences were related to the volume of the intracranial pathology. ICP monitorization from the lesion side is reasonable as an early forewarning procedure and this might prevent the development of secondary insults by providing the exact ICP values of the patients.

Isolated intrasellar tuberculoma mimicking pituitary adenoma.

A 37-year-old woman presenting with galactorrhea and menstrual irregularity due to an intrasellar lesion of the pituitary gland underwent transsphenoidal surgery for histopathological diagnosis and removal of the lesion. Histological findings were consistent with a tuberculoma. The post-operative course was satisfactory with resolution of galactorrhea and improved ovulatory cycle. The patient was successfully treated with a combination of surgical resection and anti-tuberculous therapy for one year, which resulted in hormonal and tuberculosis control. This patient appears unique regarding the location of the lesion and the dramatic response to surgical treatment. Although differential diagnosis of inflammatory pathologies of the intrasellar region presents difficulties, this patient demonstrates that tuberculoma should be considered.

Glioblastomatous recurrence of oligodendroglioma remote from the original site: a case report.

BACKGROUND: As in all diffuse gliomas, recurrence is an inherent feature of oligodendrogliomas, either as the same or higher grade neoplasm at the primary site. The rate of remote recurrence after surgery for the primary tumor cannot be estimated from the scarce literature, but delayed treatment of the primary tumor and genetic alterations may be associated with this phenomenon. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 40-year-old man presented with generalized seizures. A magnetic resonance imaging scan disclosed a right frontal mass lesion showing features of a low-grade glioma for which he refused any treatment. Seven months after diagnosis upon uncontrollable seizures, he underwent a stereotactic biopsy, which was followed by a right frontal craniotomy, both of which confirmed the lesion as a grade 2 oligodendroglioma. Six months after surgery, the patient presented with a left frontal lobe GBM without evidence of recurrence at the primary site. The genetic analysis of the primary and recurrent tumors showed trisomy 7, monosomy 10, but not 1p or 19q deletions, which have been proposed as markers for favorable prognosis. CONCLUSION: Recurrence of a frontal lobe oligodendroglioma remote from the primary site as a GBM is a rare occurrence. Single-cell invasion across the corpus callosum with subsequent or simultaneous malignant degeneration into a secondary GBM is the likely mechanism. As the genetic analysis suggests, conversion of oligodendroglioma to GBM may be associated with gain of chromosome 7, loss of chromosome 10, and other genetic markers that may represent late events in the oncogenesis of oligodendroglial tumors.

Transient Anton's syndrome: a presenting feature of acute epidural hematoma at the confluens sinuum.

Although unilateral epidural hematomas are well known, bilateral presentation, especially at the confluens sinuum, is uncommon, and its diagnosis may be delayed, thus causing morbidity. We report a case of acute posttraumatic cortical blindness due to epidural hematoma at the confluens sinuum caused by venous sinus tearing. The epidural hematoma was evacuated and the dural tear was repaired. The patient remained alert throughout the hospitalization. Examination of the visual field revealed recovery postoperatively, and the patient was discharged. We discuss the pathological mechanisms of transient blindness. The importance of anopsia as an early sign of epidural hematoma is emphasized.