[Reversible porencephalic cyst related to shunt dysfunction]. / Cavidad porencefálica reversible secundaria a disfunción valvular.

INTRODUCTION: The surgical treatment of hydrocephalus is one of the most commonly procedures of modern pediatric neurosurgical practice, and cerebrospinal fluid shunts are the main means of treatment of hydrocephalus, being independent of site of obstruction and ventricular shunt complications are frequent, especially in children. The most common complications are shunt obstructions, mechanical disconnections, overdrainage and infection. CASE REPORT: A 7.5-year-old girl with ventriculoperitoneal shunt presented with intermittent headache. A head computed tomography scan revealed a cyst located in right temporal lobe. After ventriculoperitoneal shunt revision, a gradual resolution of the cyst was demonstrated on computed tomography. CONCLUSIONS: Cerebrospinal fluid porencephaly is a rare postoperative complication of a ventricular shunt that results from dysfunction of the distal catheter, especially in children with taut ventricles.

TITLE: Cavidad porencefalica reversible secundaria a disfuncion valvular.Introduccion. El tratamiento quirurgico de la hidrocefalia es uno de los procedimientos quirurgicos mas habituales en la neurocirugia pediatrica, y las derivaciones ventriculoperitoneales constituyen una herramienta fundamental en el tratamiento de la hidrocefalia tanto infantil como del adulto. Las complicaciones de las valvulas son relativamente frecuentes, sobre todo en la poblacion pediatrica, y, entre estas, las mas habituales incluyen: las obstrucciones, las desconexiones, el hiperdrenaje y las infecciones. Caso clinico. Niña de 7,5 años, portadora de una valvula ventriculoperitoneal, que presentaba cefalea intermitente. Un estudio con tomografia computarizada demostro una lesion quistica temporal derecha. Tras la revision valvular, la tomografia computarizada evidencio la reduccion del quiste. Conclusiones. La formacion de una cavidad porencefalica es una complicacion poco frecuente. Se relaciona con problemas en el cateter distal en pacientes con ventriculos dilatados y de las que existen escasas referencias en la bibliografia.

[Intraventricular arachnoid cyst]. / Quiste aracnoideo intraventricular.

INTRODUCTION. Intracranial arachnoids cysts are considered benign developmental anomalies that occur within the arachnoid membrane and generally contain clear and colourless fluid resembling cerebrospinal fluid. The prevalence of these cysts is higher in the first two decades of life, and the incidence is widely quoted as approximately 1% of all space-occupying intracranial lesions. Arachnoids cysts in the elderly person are a rare occurrence. We report the unusual presentation of a woman with an intraventricular arachnoid cyst treated with endoscopic technique. CASE REPORT. A 75-year-old woman presented with progressive hemiparesis of two years duration. Cranial MR imaging showed a right parieto-occipital intraventricular cyst with local mass effect and moderate dilatation of lateral ventricles. A right-sided burr hole was made and the arachnoids cyst was reached and cysto-ventricle shunting was realized. This was followed by a septum pellucidum fenestration. There were no complications during the surgery and the patient presented no symptoms at time of discharge. CONCLUSIONS. The neuroendoscopic approach to intraventricular arachnoid cysts was effective with few complications.

TITLE: Quiste aracnoideo intraventricular.Introduccion. Los quistes aracnoideos intracraneales son lesiones congenitas de caracter benigno formadas por una membrana aracnoidea que contiene en su interior un liquido de caracteristicas similares al liquido cefalorraquideo. La prevalencia de estos quistes es alta en las primeras dos decadas de la vida, y es poco frecuente en ancianos; representan alrededor del 1% de todas las lesiones intracraneales ocupantes de espacio. Presentamos el caso de una paciente con un quiste aracnoideo intraventricular tratado endoscopicamente. Caso clinico. Mujer de 75 años que presenta una hemiparesia progresiva de dos años de evolucion. La resonancia magnetica craneal mostro una lesion quistica intraventricular en la region parietooccipital derecha, con efecto masa local y moderada dilatacion de los ventriculos laterales. A traves de un agujero de trepano frontal derecho, se realizo una fenestracion cistoventricular y apertura del septo pelucido. No se presentaron complicaciones relacionadas con la cirugia y la paciente fue dada de alta asintomatica. Conclusiones. La fenestracion neuroendoscopica es un tratamiento efectivo para los quistes aracnoideos intraventriculares, con un escaso indice de complicaciones.

[Paediatric neurocysticercosis: two case reports]. / Neurocisticercosis pediatrica: a proposito de dos casos.

INTRODUCTION: Neurocysticercosis, caused by the larvae of Taenia solium, is the most common parasitic infection of the central nervous system in humans. Considered an endemic parasitosis in developing countries including Latin America, Asia and Africa while in Europa, the cases of neurocysticercosis are anecdotal. CASE REPORTS: We report two cases of neurocysticercosis in children of non-Spanish origin who presented with seizures, with the initial diagnosis of brain tumors both were treated with surgery; later, to be the diagnosis of neurocisticercosis antiparasitic therapy was administered. CONCLUSIONS: Neurocysticercosis can be a potential cause of epilepsy even in non-endemic countries. Some cases may be difficult to diagnose and they can be confused with other intracranial lesions. Clinicians should be aware of this condition given increasing incidence in Spain and neurocysticercosis should be always be considered in the differential diagnosis particularly in patients from Latin America and Africa.

[Primary cranial vault lymphoma]. / Linfoma primario de la calota craneal.

INTRODUCTION: Primary bone lymphomas account for 3-7% of all malignant bone tumours and less than 2% of lymphomas in adults. Having the cranial vault as their primary location is very infrequent. CASE REPORT: A 59-year-old female who presented a painful tumour on the cranial vault which, following radical surgical removal, was found to be an ALK-negative primary large-cell lymphoma. CONCLUSIONS: After reviewing the literature we believe that this is the first case of cranial vault lymphoma in which the translocation of the ALK protein-producing gene has been studied.

[Tumours of the nerve root sheath in the spine]. / Tumores de la vaina de las raíces nerviosas espinales.

INTRODUCTION: Spinal schwannomas account for about 30% of intradural spinal cord tumors in adults. More are solitary tumors, which can occur throughout the spinal canal. The multiple form of neurofibromas is known as von Recklinghausen disease. AIM. To analyze clinical and radiologic characteristics, treatment and evolution of patients with spinal nerve sheath tumor. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study in a series of patients treated surgically of spinal schwannomas during 25 years. The following variables were evaluated: gender, age, symptomatology, radiological findings, localization, surgical findings and results. RESULTS: We treated 35 male and 33 female with a mean age of 55 years (range: 12-76 years).The most common pre-surgical symptom was local or radicular pain in 55 patients (80.8%). In 49 cases (66.2%), the tumor was sited in the lumbosacral, in 15 cases (20.2%) in the dorsal tract, and in 10 cases (13.6%) in the cervical tract. Total removal was achieved in 70 cases (94.5%) and subtotal resection in 4 (5.5%). 66 tumors (89.1%) were schwannomas and the other 8 cases (10.9%) neurofibromas. CONCLUSIONS: Tumors of the spinal root sheaths can occur at any level of the spinal canal. Most patients present with local and/or radicular pain and in most cases total resection its possible with good functional recovery.