Diagnosis behind the mask: A rare case of infected Charcot's spine.

Charcot's spine is a very uncommon long-term complication of spinal cord injury. Infection of the spine is a common pathology, but infection of a Charcot's spine is rare and is challenging to diagnose, especially in differentiating between the Charcot defect and the osteomyelitis defect. Surgical reconstruction has to be extremely individualized. A 65-year-old man with a history of thoracic spinal cord injury with paraplegia 49 years ago was admitted to our hospital with high fever and aphasia. After a thorough diagnostic process, destructive Charcot's spine and secondary infection were diagnosed. This report additionally reviews the surgical management of secondary infected destructive lumbar Charcot's spine and follows the patient's recovery and postoperative quality of life.

Preserving a Rare Type of Variant Right Hepatic Artery Combines Surgical Radicality and Intact Liver Perfusion during Pancreatectomy.

An anomalous anatomy of the celiac trunk, and particularly of the right hepatic artery, may have a significant impact on major hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery. According to some authors, every third patient has an aberrant right hepatic artery. We present a very rare case of replaced right hepatic artery (RRHA) arising from the gastroduodenal artery associated with an accessory left hepatic artery originating from the left gastric artery in a 54-year-old woman with a pancreatic head carcinoma. The patient underwent total pancreatectomy on account of a soft lipomatous pancreas with heterogeneous changes of the pancreatic body and tail. We preserved the RRHA and achieved R0 resection margins. Preoperative evaluation of CT angiograms, an awareness of any anomalous arterial anatomy of the upper abdomen, and a meticulous surgical technique are the key to performing oncologically radical surgery without threatening the arterial liver supply.

Developmental Venous Anomalies are More Common in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis and Clinically Isolated Syndrome : Coincidence or Relevant?

PURPOSE: Developmental venous anomalies (DVA) are congenital malformations of veins that drain brain parenchyma, with a prevalence up to 9.3% in normal populations and 29.5% in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Study purpose was to determine prevalence of DVAs in patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) and early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and to assess whether DVAs are related to altered clinical, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) laboratory parameters. METHODS: Routine neurological and MRI examinations took place in a single center in 93 patients (39 CIS, 54 RRMS). Clinical disability (n = 93), MRI (n ≤ 90), CSF (n ≤ 82) parameters and DVA status were determined and compared statistically. RESULTS: A total of 29 DVAs were detected in 25 patients (25/93; 26.9%), 10 in 39 CIS patients and 15 in 54 RRMS patients. Most parameters were not significantly altered in patients with DVAs; no associated higher conversion rates from CIS to MS at 1-year (p = 0.411) or 2­year follow-up (p = 0.281) were registered. CONCLUSION: A higher prevalence of DVAs was detected in CIS and early MS patients than reported in non-MS populations, congruent to recent literature. The DVAs were not associated with significantly altered clinical outcomes, brain atrophy rates or disease progression, and no associated higher risk of CIS patients for converting to MS was found.

Pancreaticogastric Fistula Due to Infiltration of a Mixed Type Intrapapillary Mucinous Neoplasia of the Pancreas.

BACKGROUND: A 68-year-old asymptomatic patient was incidentally diagnosed with an intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasia (IPMN) of the pancreas with a pancreaticogastric fistula. He had a history of a right sided nephrectomy due to a renal cell carcinoma 9 years before. The patient underwent an uneventful total pancreatectomy and wedge resection of the stomach. METHODS: The patient's medical history was studied and compared to recent literature via PubMed. RESULTS: Pathohistological evaluation confirmed a mixed type IPMN of an intestinal subtype with pancreaticogastric fistula. CONCLUSION: Pancreaticogastric fistula due to benign IPMN is extremely rare. Surgical resection including wedge resection of the stomach is the treatment of choice.

Central Atrophy Early in Multiple Sclerosis: Third Ventricle Volumetry versus Planimetry.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cerebral atrophy has been suggested to be a reliable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) predictor of subsequent disability in all stages of multiple sclerosis (MS). However, no accepted methodology for routine clinical use exists to date. We sought an easy to apply and fast technique to evaluate cerebral ventricular volume in patients with MS with similar accuracy as a semiautomatic volumetric method. METHODS: The study included 104 patients, 61 diagnosed with MS and 43 with clinically isolated syndrome. In addition, 30 healthy controls were enrolled. Physical disability was assessed with the expanded disability status scale and cognitive disability with the Multiple Sclerosis Inventory Cognition (MUSIC) test. All subjects received standardized 3-dimensional (3D) MR-imaging on a 3 T scanner. Third ventricle volume (3VV) was obtained from 3D T1-weighted images using a semiautomated technique, and compared against planimetric assessment of the width of the third ventricle aligned (a3VW) and unaligned (u3VW) to anatomical landmarks. RESULTS: a3VW was obtained within seconds with excellent intra- and interrater agreement, and outperformed volumetric measurements regarding the differentiation of MS patients from healthy controls. a3VW had the strongest correlations with 3VV (r = .78, P < .001) and showed moderate inverse correlation with MUSIC cognition score (r = -.310, P < .005). CONCLUSIONS: a3VW is a time-effective and robust biomarker that has strong correlations with volumetric measurements and can be established as standard in the MRI quantification of central brain atrophy in patients with early MS.