Deep Brain Stimulation for the Treatment of Hemichorea: Case Series and Literature Review.

Background: Hemichorea (HC) and its severe form hemiballismus (HB) are rare movement disorders which can be medically refractory to treatments and may need surgical intervention. Case Report: We report 3 patients with HC-HB who had meaningful clinical improvement with unilateral deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the globus pallidus interna (GPi). We identified 8 prior cases of HC-HB treated with GPi-DBS, and a majority of these patients experienced significant improvement in their symptoms. Discussion: GPi-DBS can be considered in medically refractory HC-HB in carefully selected patients. However, data is limited to small case series and further studies are needed.

Cervical syringomyelia with caudal thoracic epidural lipomatosis: case report and literature review.

Syringomyelia associated with epidural lipomatosis is a rare finding. Only three published cases of epidural lipomatosis associated with syringomyelia exist in the literature.We report the case of a 46-year-old woman who presented with progressive myelopathy over an 18-month period. Imaging revealed significant thoracic spinal cord compression secondary to epidural lipomatosis from T3 to T8 with cephalad cervical syringomyelia extending from C7 to T1. Imaging was unremarkable for Chiari malformation or a craniospinal space-occupying lesion. A T2 to T8 laminoplasty was performed, removing excessive epidural adipose tissue to decompress the thoracic spinal cord. Postoperatively, the patient reported symptom improvement with complete symptom resolution at 3 months. Follow-up imaging at 3-months demonstrated thoracic spinal cord decompression with mild syrinx reduction. At two-year follow-up the patient remained asymptomatic with unchanged imaging.Syringomyelia in the setting epidural lipomatosis is a rare finding.

Long-term resolution of delayed onset hypoglossal nerve palsy following occipital condyle fracture: Case report and review of the literature.

The authors present the case of a patient that demonstrates resolution of delayed onset hypoglossal nerve palsy (HNP) subsequent to occipital condyle fracture following a motor vehicle accident. Decompression of the hypoglossal nerve and craniocervical fixation led to satisfactory long-term (>5 years) outcome. There is a scarcity of literature in recognizing HNPs following trauma and a lack of pathophysiological understanding to both a delayed presentation and to resolution versus persistence. This is the first report demonstrating long-term resolution of hypoglossal nerve injury following trauma to the craniocervical junction.