Seat belt syndrome with unstable Chance fracture dislocation of the second lumbar vertebra without neurological deficits.

The seat belt syndrome is a recognised complication of seat belt use in vehicles. Unstable Chance fractures of the spine without neurological deficits have been reported infrequently. We describe a young woman with completely disrupted Chance fracture of the second lumbar vertebra in association with left hemidiaphragmatic rupture/hernia, multiple bowel perforations, splenic capsular tear, left humeral shaft and multiple rib fractures. These injuries which resulted from high-speed vehicle collision and led to death of one of the occupants were readily detected by trauma series imaging. The patient was successfully treated by a dedicated multidisciplinary team which adopted a staged surgical approach and prioritisation of care. There were no manifested neurological or other deficits after 1 year of follow-up. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of such a case in Australasia. We discuss the challenging surgical management, highlighting the role of radiological imaging in such cases and provide a literature review.

Cotyledonoid dissecting leiomyoma as a possible cause of chronic lower back pain.

Uterine fibroids having the distinct pathological and immunohistochemical features of cotyledonoid dissecting leiomyoma have been reported infrequently. We describe a postmenopausal woman with an incidental finding of an abdominopelvic mass arising from the uterine fundus on routine radiological imaging of the lumbar spine. The imaging was performed for the investigation of chronic radicular lower back pain refractory to usual pain management. However, the woman did not manifest any gynaecological symptoms. Intraoperatively, the pelvic mass appeared malignant and a frozen section suggested uterine sarcoma. As such, the mass was radically resected, resulting in significant resolution of the back pain. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of cotyledonoid dissecting leiomyoma presenting solely as chronic lower back pain, and also the first report of this fibroid variant in Australasia. We discuss the diagnostic and operative challenges, emphasising the role of radiological imaging and immunohistopathology in such cases and review current literature.

A rare association of cerebral dural arteriovenous fistula with venous aneurysm and contralateral flow-related middle cerebral artery aneurysm.

The association of cerebral dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF) and ipsilateral flow related aneurysm has infrequently been reported. We describe a male patient who presented with an acute haemorrhagic stroke and was found to have a large right fronto-parietal intra-parenchymal haemorrhage from the ruptured Borden type II DAVF in addition to a large venous aneurysm and a flow related intraosseous aneurysm of the contralateral middle meningeal artery (MMA) all clearly delineated by CT and DSA. He underwent emergency stereotactic evacuation of the intraparenchymal haemorrhage and successful surgical treatment of all the vascular lesions at the same time with residual neurological deficit. To our knowledge, this is the first such reported case. We discuss the challenging surgical treatment, emphasising the role of CT/DSA in management, and provide a literature review.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome and neurofibromatosis type 1 with multiple neurofibromas of the entire spinal nerve roots.

The coexistence of polyneuropathy which has the definite clinical and electromyographical findings consistent with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) syndrome and neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) has infrequently been reported. We describe a patient with both CMT and NF1, who had multiple neurofibromas involving the entire spinal neural axis. In addition, he had multiple neurofibromas distributed within the ileopsoas and gluteus muscles and subcutaneous tissues. These lesions were detected readily by MRI and the patient underwent successful surgical resection of the largest tumours compressing bilateral C2 nerve roots. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of CMT syndrome coexisting with NF1 in which multiple neurofibromas involved the entire spinal nerve roots. We discuss the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges, emphasising the role of MRI and electrophysiology in such cases and provide a literature review.