Human pulmonary dirofilariasis: does diagnosis require thoracotomy?

The incidence of pulmonary coin lesions as a result of Dirofilaria immitis (dog heartworm) seems to be increasing. A case of human pulmonary dirofilariasis is described, and its pathogenesis and the limitations of preoperative diagnostic tests in this condition are discussed.

Craniofacial neurosurgical approach for extensive hyperostotic meningioma.

We present a patient with a craniofacial meningioma that had been considered inoperable for 8 years but has now been successfully treated using the combined neurosurgical and craniomaxillofacial approach. The tumor extensively involved the meninges, skull, face, left orbit, and maxilla. Vision and mild proptosis of the left eye had worsened over the last several years. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans revealed an extensive intraosseous meningioma with intracranial and extracranial extension. An angiogram revealed an intensely vascularized mass supplied by a markedly enlarged ophthalmic artery. The tumor was approached through a bicoronal incision. The meningioma that extended into the dura was removed entirely from the brain. The left orbital roof and the lateral and medial walls were resected along with the meningioma, which extended through the orbit into the maxilla. The defect in the dura was closed with a pericranial flap. Split parietal bone and lyophilized cartilage were used for reconstruction of the cranial and orbital defects. Three and a half months after the initial surgery, further reconstruction was performed using calvarial, rib, and iliac bone and lyophilized cartilage. A methylmethacrylate implant was inserted but then removed due to chronic wound drainage. It was substituted with demineralized perforated bone implants from Pacific Coast Tissue Bank. Seventeen months after the initial surgery, there was no evidence of the tumor.