Anatomical surgical approach to lateral vetricle masses and histopathological findings of the brain.

BACKGROUND: The selection of surgical approach to the lateral ventricular masses includes difficulties due to their deep localizations, close proximity to the vascular and the eloquent brain structures. The most appropriate approach that should be chosen in surgical treatment of lateral ventricular masses is still controversial. In this study, the factors in the choice of surgical approach to the lateral ventricle masses and the results of them were investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, 80 patients who underwent surgery in our clinic due to the lateral ventricular masses were retrospectively analyzed between the years 2002-2013. All of the cases were evaluated in terms of clinical and neuroradiological results pre and postoperatively. In 24 cases the anterior interhemispheric transcallosal, in 4 cases the posterior interhemispheric transcallosal, in 30 cases the posterior interhemispheric precuneal, in 14 cases the transcortical and in 8 cases the combined surgical approaches were performed. RESULTS: Gender distribution of the cases were 45 male/35 female and the mean age of them was 31.7 years (7 month - 73 years). In 64 patients the gross total resection was performed, whereas in 16 patients subtotal resection was performed due to the infiltration of eloquent brain areas. In the histopathological examination; 52 neuroepithelial, 8 mixed neuroglial, 3 meningeal, 2 lympho-hematopoietic system, 1 pine blastoma, 1 germ cell, 5 metastatic and 8 other benign masses were observed. After surgery, additional neurological deficits developed in 9 patients. The mortality was observed in 6 patients postoperatively. The average follow-up time was 13 (1-83) months. CONCLUSIONS: The essential factors which affect the results of surgical treatment of lateral ventricular masses are; the size of the mass, histopathology, location, extension, and the relationship to the neurovascular structures. The goal of surgery is to provide the histopathological diagnosis, gross total resection, if it is possible, and to normalize the flow of cerebrospinal fluid by eliminating the mass effect of pressure.

Histopathological and immunohistochemical investigation of the effect of Shilajit in rats with experimental spinal cord injury.

BACKGROUND: This experimental study was designed to investigate the histopathological and immunohistochemical effects of Shilajit in rats with experimentally induced spinal cord injury (SCI). METHODS: The rats were divided into three groups: Control group: The group in which spinal cord damage was created but no drug was administered. Low-dose group: This is the group in which intraperitoneal Shilajit is given at a dose of 150 mg/kg at the 1st h, 1st day, 2nd day, and 3rd day after spinal cord damage was induced. High-dose group: This is the group in which intraperitoneal Shilajit is given at a dose of 250 mg/kg at the 1st h, 1st day, 2nd day, and 3rd day after spinal cord damage was induced. Thin sections taken from the spinal cord after euthanasia were sent for histopathological and immunohistochemical examination. RESULTS: Histopathological examination of the high-dose group showed lower amounts of morphological findings compared to the low-dose group and control group. While a significant CD68 immune reaction was observed in the control group of rats with spinal injury, the positive immune reaction was found to be significantly decreased in the Shilajit-applied groups. CONCLUSION: It is thought that the use of Shilajit in SCI will reduce the effects of secondary damage in SCI and that its administra-tion to such patients will have positive effects on the results.

Progressive subcutaneous emphysema. A rare finding: Pneumorrhachis.

Pneumorrhachis is a rare phenomenon which may be caused by trauma, intracraneal infection, pneumomediastinum or iatrogenic factors. Presence of air in the spinal canal is reported in most cases. In this article, we report a case with PR in the spinal canal without any neurological deficit, which developed secondary to subcutaneous emphysema.