Acute bilateral foot drop due to lumbar disc herniation treated by bilateral interlaminar approach: case report and literature review.

Foot drop due to lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a relatively common finding in spinal practice. Bilateral foot drop (BFD) due to LDH is an extremely rare condition with only a few reported cases. We describe the case of a middle-aged man presenting with a rapid onset BFD with back and leg pain. Urgent MRI revealed an L4-L5 centrally located LDH with bilateral compression of the L5 nerve roots and the cauda equina centrally. About 4 h after presentation surgery was performed adopting a bilateral L4-L5 interlaminar approach and the prolapsed disc was removed. Nine months after surgery, the patient showed a complete recovery of his deficit. We discuss the advantages of this approach in this urgent situation and we compare it with other techniques.

Giant intradural extramedullary spinal ependymoma, a rare arachnoiditis-mimicking condition: case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCE: Ependymomas are tumours arising from the ependymal cells lining the ventricles and the central canal of the spinal cord. They represent the most common intramedullary spinal cord tumour in adults and are very rarely encountered in an extramedullary location. Only 40 cases of intradural extramedullary (IDEM) ependymomas have been reported, all of which were diagnosed pre-operatively as IDEM ependymomas on contrast-enhanced MRI. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: We report a 23-year old male presenting with rapidly worsening signs and symptoms of spinal cord disease. A spinal MRI demonstrated a posterior multi-cystic dilatation extended between T1 and T12. Post-contrast sequences showed peri-medullar leptomeningeal enhancement and the diagnosis of spinal arachnoiditis was made. The patient underwent surgery and the spinal cord appeared circumferentially wrapped by an irregular soft tissue. The tissue was sub-totally removed and the pathological diagnosis was ependymoma WHO grade II. The patient experienced an excellent neurological recovery and no further treatments were administered. A small residue is now stable at 2.5 years follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Giant IDEM ependymomas are rare entities and pre-operative diagnosis can be challenging in some cases. Surgery represents the main treatment option being resolutive in most cases.

Sporadic cauda equina hemangioblastoma: surgical management in a pregnant woman.

Hemangioblastoma is a rare benign vascular tumour of the central nervous system that occurs either sporadically or in association with Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome. Hemangioblastoma can be found throughout the central nervous system and usually present with late manifestations due to their slow growth rate. Cauda equina hemangioblastomas are extremely rare, and in the literature, no cases are reported on the surgical management of pregnant patients with this condition. We report the case of a young woman with back pain and sphincter dysfunctions in whom an L1-L2 hemangioblastoma was diagnosed. We describe the perioperative and surgical strategies we adopted to successfully treat the patient and preserve the fetus well-being.

12 Years delayed postoperative spinal recurrence of craniopharyngioma. Case report and literature review.

A case of delayed spinal adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma recurrence is presented. A 54-year-old male patient was admitted in our Emergency Department complaining of urinary disorders and leg pains. He underwent surgical removal of intraventricular craniopharyngioma 12 years previously. On MR imaging a well-circumscribed intradural cistyc mass at the T12 level was reavealed. A T11 and T12 laminotomy was performed and total removal of the tumour was achieved. Histology examination showed adamantinous craniopharyngioma. The authors believe that this represents the third case described of spinal craniofaryngioma recurrence and the first involving the dorsal spine.

Basal ganglia haemorrhages: efficacy and limits of different surgical strategies.

To assess the role of surgery in patients with spontaneous basal ganglia haemorrhages, we evaluated poor outcome (mortality and prolonged unawareness) one month after 'open' surgery in patients with haematomas larger than 30 cm(3). One hundred and twenty-seven patients were traced over a 5-year period. Excluding deeply comatose patients (Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] 3-4, n = 39), we analysed the remaining 88 patients, dividing them into two homogeneous groups according to the modality of treatment: aggressive or palliative. Multivariate analysis was applied both to the overall population and to the two groups in order to determine factors prognostic for poor outcome. Aggressive treatment was defined as surgery as the first-choice treatment modality aimed at 'complete' evacuation. Palliative treatment was defined as delayed surgery and/or surgery aimed at clot removal only to obtain internal decompression. Efficacy was assessed in patients having the same initial GCS score in both groups. Factors significantly associated with outcome were preoperative complications, volume, timing of operation, residual clots and postoperative complications. Outcomes were significantly better for aggressive surgery (17% vs. 68%, p < 0.001). On analysing the two treatment groups, volume and GCS were found to be significantly correlated with outcome in the palliative treatment group, while pre- and postoperative complications were significantly correlated with outcome in the aggressive treatment group. As judged by preoperative GCS score, aggressive treatment is always effective while palliative treatment is valid for GCS 9 or more. It clearly emerged that early surgery, aimed at removing all the clots, improves the outcome in patients with spontaneous ganglionic haemorrhages (excluding deeply comatose patients) and has wider indications than palliative surgery. This aggressive strategy is negatively affected by pre- and postoperative general complications.