Enlargement of sacral subcutaneous meningocele associated with retained medullary cord.

BACKGROUND: A retained medullary cord (RMC) is a rare closed spinal dysraphism with a robust elongated neural structure continuous from the conus and extending to the dural cul-de-sac. Four cases of RMC extending down to the base of an associated subcutaneous meningocele at the sacral level have been reported. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: We report an additional case of RMC, in whom serial MRI examination revealed an enlargement of the meningocele associated with RMC over a 3-month period between 8 and 11 months of age, when he began to stand. At the age of 12 months, untethering of the cord was performed. Histologically, the presence of ependyma-lined central canals in the dense neuroglial cores was noted in all cord-like structures in the intradural and intrameningocele sacs and at the attachment to the meningocele. CONCLUSION: It is conceivable that the hydrodynamic pressure with standing position and the check valve phenomenon were involved in meningocele enlargement. We should be mindful of these potential morphological changes.

[Coil embolization of a ruptured posterior cerebral artery aneurysm via the internal carotid artery and a posterior communicating artery: a case report].

A posterior cerebral artery aneurysm is a rare condition. Various surgical approaches have to be considered for operating on these aneurysms because the position of the aneurysm and the surrounding structures restrict the operative field and render the operation difficult. Recently, endovascular treatments for posterior cerebral artery aneurysms have been reported to provide a good outcome. We present a case of a ruptured posterior cerebral artery aneurysm treated with coil embolization. We adopted endovascular treatment because a large vein of Labbé was expected to restrict the operative field. The internal carotid artery and a fetal-type posterior communicating artery (PCoA) were chosen as the access route because of P1 hypoplasty, and a coaxial guiding system was used because of the tortuous access route. The aneurysm was suitably embolized using Guglielmi detachable coils (GDCs). In a case of posterior cerebral artery aneurysm, we report the usefulness of endovascular treatment performed through the internal carotid artery and a fetal-type PCoA.

Catastrophic intracranial hemorrhage associated with eosinophilic granulomatous polyangiitis in a patient after Fontan operation.

A 29-year-old man after the Fontan operation had a catastrophic intracranial hemorrhage associated with eosinophilic granulomatous polyangiitis. Despite combination therapy with cyclophosphamide and methylprednisolone, he was dead at 6 months after the onset. The clinical course was worse owing to underlying coagulopathy and endothelial dysfunction associated with congenital heart disease. Key Clnical Massage The majority of patients with complex congenital heart disease survive into adulthood. Potential endothelial dysfunction and coagulopathy can attribute to unexpected clinical manifestations of other extracardiac disease among them.

Saccular Limited Dorsal Myeloschisis with Spinal Cord Deviation out of the Spinal Canal to the Sac.

Saccular limited dorsal myeloschisis (LDM) is characterized by a fibroneural stalk linking the saccular skin lesion to the underlying spinal cord. Since untethering surgery during the early postnatal period is often indicated to prevent sac rupture, saccular LDM should be distinguished from myelomeningocele (MMC) during the perinatal period. We treated two patients with the spinal cord deviation from the spinal canal to the sac, which mimicked a prolapse of the neural placode into the MMC sac. In patient 1, pre- and postnatal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed that the spinal cord was strongly tethered to the thick stalk. During surgery, the dorsally bent cord and stalk were united, and the border between these two was determined with intraoperative neurophysiological mapping (IONM). In patient 2, the spinal cord was tethered to two slender stalks close to each other, which was visible with the combined use of sagittal and axial postnatal three-dimensional heavily T2-weighted imaging (3D-hT2WI). The preoperative MRI hallmark of saccular LDM is the visualization of a stalk that links the bending cord and sac. Complete untethering surgery to return the cord into the spinal canal and correct its dorsal bending is recommended.

Coil embolization for a ruptured posterior cerebral artery aneurysm with vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia.

A 74-year-old man suffered sudden loss of consciousness at home. Computed tomography revealed severe subarachnoid hemorrhage and an unusual posterior cerebral artery (PCA) aneurysm with vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia (VBD). The aneurysm was located in the right hypothalamus. VBD associated with a distal lesion makes endovascular treatment difficult because of the elongation and tortuosity of the access route. However, endovascular coil embolization was successful for the present ruptured PCA aneurysm with VBD.