World Neurosurg
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Case Reports
SPHENOID WING MENINGIOMA WITH SURGICAL REVASCULARIZATION OF AN INJURED ANTERIOR TEMPORAL ARTERY.
A 79-year-old woman presented to the emergency department following multiple falls in the previous week. Her past medical history was unremarkable except for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She was neurologically intact on arrival with normal laboratory data. ⋯ Doppler probe confirmed patency of the anastomosis. The patient recovered well from the surgery, experienced an uneventful hospital stay, and was discharged on postoperative day 10 after completely controlling her chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Postoperative imaging did not show any signs of infarction, and the revascularized artery was patent on postoperative computed tomography angiography (Video 1).
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An elderly woman was transferred for biopsy of a pontine lesion. Her condition, including gait disturbances, truncal ataxia, and dysarthria-presumed to be due to severe alcohol abuse-had deteriorated during treatment of ambulatory-acquired pneumonia. ⋯ Although extremely rare, pontine myelinolysis can occur in the presence of normal electrolyte levels. Thus, imaging findings should not be misinterpreted as pontine neoplasms, and patients should not undergo stereotactic biopsy-a procedure that could result in disastrous morbidity.
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Case Reports
Amateur Endurance Athletes: at higher risk of suffering dural arteriovenous fistulas? Report of 3 cases.
The present study aims to draw attention to the fact that endurance sport could be a risk factor for dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF) development. DAVFs have been correlated with acquired dural venous sinus anomalies owing to trauma, infection, neoplasia, or other classic risk thrombogenic factors. Here we report 3 cases of intracranial DAVF in young healthy patients who had no known thrombogenic risk factors other than amateur intensive sports practice. ⋯ Dehydration, microfractures, muscular contractures, low heart rate, long distance travel, and high altitudes are all well documented thrombogenic risk factors affecting endurance sports amateur athletes and might represent a plausible mechanism for the development of DAVF. Despite its limitations, to our knowledge, this is the first work suggesting a possible link between such sport practice and DAVF development. Further prospective research from larger dedicated vascular centers might shed further light on this hypothetic but intriguing link.
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Patients with cervical spinal cord injuries (CSCIs) may be required to undergo tracheostomy. However, in patients undergoing anterior cervical fusion (ACF), percutaneous dilational tracheostomy (PDT) may be delayed given the risk of cross-contamination. We aimed to evaluate the risk of surgical site infection (SSI) in early PDT in patients with traumatic CSCI after ACF. ⋯ Early PDT within 4 days after ACF did not increase the risk of SSI compared with late PDT in patients with traumatic CSCIs.