Central nervous system lesions associated with Crohn's disease.

Central nervous system vasculitis is an exceptional extraintestinal manifestation of Crohn's disease. Reported here are 2 cases, highlighting the difficulty of differential-diagnosis with multiple sclerosis and stressing the importance of early immuno-suppressive therapy.

An atypical infectious complication of anterior cervical surgery.

We report a 44-year-old woman who developed an atypical retro-oesophageal abscess 4 years after anterior cervical surgery with fusion (ACSF). She presented with dysphagia but no fever or definite laboratory signs of inflammation. Delayed or chronic dysphagia following Cloward's operation is usually related to graft displacement. Infection may also, more rarely, be encountered in conjunction with dysphagia, but is typically associated with a classical clinical presentation and laboratory results. We recommend that in cases of delayed dysphagia without evidence of graft migration, the possibility of retropharyngeal infection should be considered, even in the absence of clinical signs or supporting laboratory evidence. MRI in this rare delayed complication is nonspecific but suggestive, and hence represents the imaging modality of choice in such situations.

Prognostic value positron emission tomography with [18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose in the low-grade glioma.

OBJECTIVE: The natural history of the supratentorial low-grade glioma (LGG) of the adult is variable, and its malignant transformation is hardly predictable. Because positron emission tomography with [18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) has prognostic value in high-grade gliomas, this study was designed to search for a possible relationship between glucose metabolism and risk of malignant evolution in LGGs. METHODS: Positron emission tomography with FDG was performed in 28 patients with LGGs (22 at the time of diagnosis and 6 after the diagnosis). A metabolic grading system based on the visual inspection of the positron emission tomographic images was used. RESULTS: In 19 patients, no area of FDG uptake higher than in the white matter was detected (metabolic Grade 1). All of those patients were alive at the end of the follow-up period. Only one of the patients presented a histological modification 7 months after the diagnosis. Nine patients presented areas of increased FDG uptake (metabolic Grade 2 or 3). Those areas were found in the tumor area in eight patients and in an area of radionecrosis in one. Of the nine patients with FDG "hot spots," six died, two had recurrence but were alive at the end of the follow-up period, and the patient with radionecrosis had no signs of recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of areas of increased FDG uptake in a histologically proven LGG predicts, in most cases, a deleterious evolution. This metabolic feature, detectable with a noninvasive procedure, may provide a clue to cellular changes, announcing malignant transformation in a tumor that retains the histological features of an LGG. Protocols with aggressive therapeutic strategies in this situation should be considered for evaluation.

[Cerebral metastases of gynecological origin]. / Métastases cérébrales d'origine gynécologique.

BACKGROUND: A few cases of brain metastasis from gynecological cancer have been reported. This tumor usually dissaminates via the blood stream, normally through surface implantation or lymphatic spread. PURPOSE: We report four cases of brain metastases from gynecological cancer (2 from ovarian cancer and 2 from endometrial cancer). RESULTS: Several months later, three patients developed brain metastases without any other location elsewhere. For the other patient, brain metastasis was the first sign of her malignant disease. CONCLUSIONS: In brain metastases from gynecological cancer, treatment should consist in surgical resection, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.