'Coexisting pituitary adenoma and suprasellar meningioma-a coincidence or causation effect: report of two cases and review of the literature'.

Coexistence of pituitary adenoma (PA) and another type of brain tumor is a very rare clinical scenario. Even though such a presentation can be an incidental event but a thorough review of the literature will be made to elucidate the possible mechanisms and treatment options in similar cases. Two cases of concomitant sellar and suprasellar/diaphragmatic tumors are reported. A 37-year-old lady with prolactinoma and a suprasellar diaphragmatic meningioma and a 42-year-old acromegalic man with suprasellar/diaphragmatic meningioma and a PA. Both meningiomas were removed transcranially. The prolactinoma could be managed medically and the growth hormone secreting adenoma was removed trans-sphenoidally. The visual problems and hormonal imbalances of both patients improved postoperatively. The literature is reviewed on this topic and the possible pathogenesis and management protocol of similar lesions are discussed.

Whole Cerebral Blood Flow Originating From Vertebral Arteries After Bilateral Internal Carotid Arteries Occlusion: A Case Report.

Bilateral occlusion of internal carotid arteries is a rare condition usually associated with severe neurological symptoms. It is very uncommon finding among patients with ischemic stroke. In this article, we report a rare case of bilateral occlusion of internal carotid artery who presented with mild reversible neurological symptoms. Angiographic evaluation of her cerebral vasculature revealed no flow across the both cervical internal carotid arteries, but a run off through both posterior communicating arteries from the vertebrobasilar system. We performed a review of the pertinent literature and discussed different management option in these patients.

The incidence and risk factors for surgical site infection after clean spinal operations: A prospective cohort study and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative infection is one of the most common complications after spine surgeries. In our study, surgical site infection (SSI) is described as; superficial (i.e., skin and subcutaneous tissues) and deep (i.e., fascia and muscles) infections occurring in the short term (i.e., 1-month) after spine surgeries (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definition 81.00-81.08). To detect the risk factors for the occurrence of such a complication, studies require a large number of patients, a high quality of data and adequate analysis. In this study, we prospectively enrolled 987 patients undergoing spinal surgery over a 3 years period. METHODS: From November 2010 to November 2013, 987 patients had a variety of spinal operations that included; disc herniation, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, fracture-dislocations, spine and spinal cord tumors, and syringomyelia. Patients under the age of 10, those with a recent history of infection and antibiotherapy, and patients with immunodeficiency disorders were excluded. RESULTS: Of the 987 spine procedures performed, 27 (2.73%) developed postoperative infections. Multi-variant data analysis indicated that multiple factors correlated with an increased risk of SSI in descending order; trauma, a past history of diabetes, smoking, being confined to bed, in the perioperative period, mean blood sugar levels above 120 mg/dl, longer lengths of incisions, and longer hospital stay. CONCLUSION: Considering the preventable nature of most of the factors contributing to SSI, it should be possible to reduce these complications.

Primary spinal extradural Ewing's sarcoma (primitive neuroectodermal tumor): Report of a case and meta-analysis of the reported cases in the literature.

BACKGROUND: Primary spinal primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET) and/or spinal extraskeletal Ewing's sarcoma family tumors (ESET) are rare lesions appearing in the spinal extradural space. One hundred forty-one primary spinal PNETs, including 29 intramedullary lesions, have been reported in the literature. Encountering a case of primary epidural EES/peripheral PNET (pPNET) in sacral level, which is the fifth one occurring at this level in the literature, we have tried to conduct a meta-analysis of the reported cases. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 44-year-old lady with epidural EES/pPNET is reported here. She was once operated for L5/S1 herniated disc, which did not ameliorate her symptoms. The clinical, imaging, surgical, and histopathologic characteristics of our case are presented and wide search of the literature is also done. All the reports were level 3 or less evidences and most of the series had missing parts. 106 cases of primary intraspinal (extradural/extramedullary-intradural) EES/pPNET and 29 cases of primary intramedullary PNET (CNS-PNET) have been reported in the literature. The most common clinical presentation in both entities was muscle weakness proportionate to the tumor location. Distant metastasis occurred in 38 of 99 (38%) cases of primary intraspinal EES/pPNET, while the rate of metastasis was 48% in patients with PNETs occurring in the intramedullary region (P > 0.05). One-year survival rate of the patients who underwent chemo-radiation after total or subtotal resection was better than those who did not receive chemotherapy or radiotherapy, or did not have total or subtotal resection. However, this difference was not repeated in 2-year survival rate in any of the tumor groups. CONCLUSION: It seems that total or subtotal removal of the tumor and adjuvant chemo- and radiation therapy can improve the outcome in these patients.