Radioneuromodulation of Nucleus Accumbens for Addiction: The First Animal Study.

OBJECTIVE: Addiction is a serious spiral where negative events or relationships triggers a craving even when the situation is caused by the addiction in the first place. Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc) is identified as an important hub for the neural pathways involved in the addictive behavior. Stimulation of this structure was demonstrated to be beneficial for addiction previously, but radioneuromodulation was never investigated until today. This study aimed to investigate if radioneuromodulation of the nucleus accumbens has any effect on alcohol addiction. METHODS: An addiction model was employed on 36 Long-Evans Rats (18 females/18 males), via a two-bottle intermittent access protocol and the trial group received 100 Gy of gamma irradiation to their bilateral NAcc. Rats were followed up for an additional 15 weeks. Multiple sets of a behavioral test battery, a 4-week abstinence period and quinine adulteration challenges were employed to evaluate responses. RESULTS: The experiment showed that the intervention reduced alcohol preference in the presence of aversive stimuli in female rats, compared to the non-irradiated controls, as the trial group showed 9.83-point decrease in alcohol preference rate under high dose quinine adulteration compared to the baseline, whereas the control group did not show any decrease. Also there were implications of additional benefits regarding weight control in females and behavioral tests in males. No evident adverse effect was observed with the treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that nucleus accumbens radioneuromodulation, although not significantly affecting baseline consumption, reduces intake when an aversive stimulus is involved, implying improved self-control.

A mature cystic teratoma in pineal region mimicking parietal encephalocele in a newborn.

OBJECTIVE: Teratoma is the most frequently encountered intracranial tumor at birth and constitutes 18-20% of all germ cell tumors. They are usually located in pineal and suprasellar regions. The authors aim to report an extremely unusual presentation, location, and appearance of a teratoma in a newborn. CASE REPORT: A soft tissue swelling in the vertex was detected in a 1-month-old girl. Neurological examination was normal. A big, cystic-solid lesion beginning from pineal region and extending to the scalp was detected in magnetic resonance imaging. It is interesting to note that cerebral venous angiography showed that the superior sagittal sinus (SSS) was divided into three branches at the level of the lesion and they joined together distally. The tumor was excised totally. Histopathological examination revealed the diagnosis of a mature cystic teratoma. CONCLUSION: A mature cystic teratoma mimicking parietal encephalocele is extremely rare. Germ cell tumors should be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis of all midline lesions with unusual radiographic appearance. Cerebral venous angiography or MR angiography must be performed for the diagnosis and the surgical planning in lesions located near SSS.

Malignant triton tumor of the pelvis in a 2-year-old boy.

We report a 2-year-old boy who had a family history of neurofibromatosis, multiple cafe-au-lait spots on the trunk, tibial pseudarthrosis, and was diagnosed with a malignant triton tumor of the pelvis. To our knowledge our case is one of the youngest patients reported with a malignant triton tumor and the second pediatric case with a pelvic malignant triton tumor.