Intracranial migration of intraocular silicone oil following repetitive head trauma.

Intraocular injection of silicone oil as a tamponade agent is a commonly used technique for the treatment of retinal detachment. An incompletely understood phenomenon which can occur after injection is the migration of silicone oil from the vitreous chamber to the intracranial space. Because the appearance of silicone oil can mimic hemorrhage or other pathologies on CT and MRI, careful comparison with prior studies is necessary to avoid unnecessary follow-up studies. We report a case of intracranial migration of intraocular silicone oil following repetitive head trauma.

Acute carotid thrombosis and ischemic stroke following overdose of the synthetic cannabinoid K2 in a previously healthy young adult male.

With the popularity of synthetic cannabinoid street drugs such as "K2 and Spice," a number of serious neurologic adverse events are coming to light. This case is a 36-year-old African American man, with no significant medical history, who presented with extensive left cervical and intracranial internal carotid artery occlusion and subsequent ischemic stroke. The patient endorsed smoking K2-a synthetic cannabinoid (SC) with structural similarity to cannabis. The mechanism by which SC abuse induces a prothrombotic state leading to ischemic neurovascular sequelae is currently unclear, although a temporal association in the absence of other stroke risk factors suggests a causal relationship. Our case highlights the need for emergent neuroimaging upon suspected SC overdose. Practitioners should be vigilant in recognizing that ischemic stroke and unexplained neurologic deficit can arise after SC abuse, especially in younger populations with few stroke risk factors and who are prone to chronic cannabis use.

Spinal subarachnoid and subdural hematoma presenting as a Brown-Séquard-like myelopathy following minor trauma in a patient on dabigatran etexilate.

Dabigatran etexilate is a relatively new anticoagulant from the class of direct thrombin inhibitors which is administered orally and does not require routine blood work monitoring. Dabigatran may be attractive to both clinicians and patients because of both its convenience and efficacy; however, clinical complications are still being elucidated. Here, we present a previously unreported case of spinal subarachnoid and subdural hematoma presenting as a Brown-Séquard-like myelopathy in a patient after minor trauma in the setting of Dabigatran anticoagulation.

CT evaluation of an anterior urethral tear.

A retrograde urethrogram is usually performed to evaluate the urethra in patients with suspected urethral injuries. A computed tomography (CT) scan is performed after the retrograde urethrogram to evaluate for further intrabdominal injuries. We present a case in which a CT scan performed after a retrograde urethrogram in a trauma patient identified a urethral tear.

Virtual endoscopy for evaluation of tracheal laceration.

Rigid or fiberoptic endoscopy is performed to evaluate the trachea in a patient with suspected tracheal injury. We present a case in which CT virtual endoscopy identified a tracheal laceration not seen on axial or sagittal reformations. This case highlights the usefulness of this modality in the diagnosis and preoperative planning of tracheal injury.