Elevations in Intra-cranial blood flow velocities following a SCUBA Dive and the Influence of Post-dive Exercise.

The effect that a SCUBA dive has on cerebral blood flow (CBF) at rest and during exercise is poorly understood. We examined the hypothesis that the altered hemodynamic parameters following a SCUBA dive will lead to differential changes in CBF at rest and during exercise. 16 divers completed a field-based study with a single dive at a depth of 18 m sea water with a 47-min bottom time. A follow-up laboratory based study was conducted - 1 week later. Intra-cranial velocities were measured with transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) pre-dive, post-dive at rest and throughout incremental exercise until exhaustion. Following the dive at rest, middle cerebral artery velocity (MCAv) was elevated 15 and 30 min after surfacing (by 3.3±5.8 and 4.0±6.9 cm/s, respectively; p<0.05); posterior cerebral artery velocity (PCAv) was increased at 30 min after surfacing (by 3.0±4.5 cm/s; p<0.05). During exercise following the dive, both MCAv and PCAv increased up to 150W followed by a decrease towards baseline at 180W (p<0.05). We found no difference in CBV during exercise between field and laboratory studies (p<0.05). The novel finding of this study is the transient elevation in resting intra-cranial velocities within 30 min following a SCUBA dive.

Vertigo associated with Chiari I malformation and syringomyelia.

We report a rare case of a patient with late onset of Chiari I malformation with associated syringomyelia that was successfully treated with foramen magnum decompression. Our patient is presenting initially with vertigo and gradual weakening of the left-hand gross motor ability, gradual hypesthesia. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a Chiari I malformation with syringomyelia. Posterior fossa decompression, C1 laminectomy and duroplasty were performed. After surgery, the vertigo completely resolved (Fig. 2, Ref. 13). Full Text (Free, PDF) www.bmj.sk.

Somatosensory-evoked potentials and MRI in tuberculous spondylodiscitis.

Early diagnosis of spondylodiscitis is a condition of efficient conservative treatment. Somatosensory-evoked potentials with clinical examination results are used in assessing the diagnosis, as well as in monitoring the course of disease and healing. MRI clearly shows the inflammatory process, healing and scars. We report a 46-year-old woman suffering from non-specific interscapular pains. The evoked somatosensory potentials of the tibial nerveshow potential conductivity being slowed down through the thoracic spine, which is clearly evident from the prolonged latency and the decreased amplitude of the evoked response. The performed thoracic spine MRI shows spondylodiscitis at the Thl0-11 level. The subject is a nurse administering BCG therapy at a urology clinic, due to the fact of which this was deemed to have been a case of tuberculous spondylodiscitis. Due to the possibility of scattering the causative agent by needle, the biopsy was given up and antituberculous therapy was administered ex juvantibus. The disease was followed up by clinical examinations, somatosensory-evoked potentials and MRI up to fully successful and final recovery from spondylodiscitis. The above examinations are of great help in diagnosing the tuberculous spondylodiscitis and monitoring the recovery (Fig. 6, Ref. 16).

Neurocysticercosis--non-specific clinical and neuroradiological presentation.

Neurocysticercosis (cysticercosis cerebri) is a rare neurological diagnosis in Croatia. It is classically divided into four types: intraparenchymal, basilar cisternal, ventricular and diffuse. Computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) established the diagnosis by demonstrating cysticercosis disseminated throughout the cerebral parenchyma. The authors emphasize the potential of the ELISA test to detect anticysticercosis antibodies in blood and cerebrospinal liquor (CSF). Diagnostics of neurocysticercosis is enabled jointly by clinical signs, neuroradiological, serum and liquor tests. We report the case of a 70-year old man with clinical and neuroradiological signs of cysticercosis cerebri. The neurological status is dominated by ataxia, corticospinal pathways damages and cognitive capacity impairments. CT of the brain shows calcificated and cystic lesions of various sizes. MRI of the brain enables the final diagnosis of the cysticercosis cerebri with multiple and multicentric lesions that indicate various stages of the cerebral cysticercosis (Fig. 2, Ref 20). Full Text (Free, PDF) www.bmj.sk.

Tinnitus caused by vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia.

A 73-year old man presented with the tinnitus in the left ear for 11 months. Computer tomography (CT) showed an enlarged dolichoectasia of the left vertebral artery. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain shows dolichoectasia of the left vertebral artery and the initial part of the basilar artery. Multi-slices computer tomographic (MSCT) angiography showed an enlarged vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia of the left vertebral artery, which compressed the vestibulocochlear nerve. This study supports a vascular compression of cranial vestibulocochlear nerve and the brainstem as a cause of tinnitus, and demonstrates a MSCT angiography value as an excellent, non-invasive technique to demonstrate the compression (Fig. 1, Ref. 20). Full Text (Free, PDF) www.bmj.sk.

Popliteal artery entrapment syndrome: diagnosis and management, with report of three cases.

Popliteal artery entrapment syndrome is an important albeit infrequent cause of serious disability among young adults and athletes with anomalous anatomic relationships between the popliteal artery and surrounding musculotendinous structures. We report our experience with 3 patients, in whom we used duplex ultrasonography, computed tomography, digital subtraction angiography, and conventional arteriography to diagnose popliteal artery entrapment and to grade the severity of dynamic circulatory insufficiency and arterial damage. We used a posterior surgical approach to give the best view of the anatomic structures compressing the popliteal artery. In 2 patients, in whom compression had not yet damaged the arterial wall, operative decompression of the artery by resection of the aberrant muscle was sufficient. In the 3rd patient, operative reconstruction of an occluded segment with autologous vein graft was necessary, in addition to decompression of the vessel and resection of aberrant muscle. The result in each case was complete recovery, with absence of symptoms and with patency verified by Doppler examination. We conclude that clinicians who encounter young patients with progressive lowerlimb arterial insufficiency should be aware of the possibility of popliteal artery entrapment. Early diagnosis through a combined approach (careful physical examination and history-taking, duplex ultrasonography, computerized tomography, and angiography) is necessary for exact diagnosis. The treatment of choice is the surgical creation of normal anatomy within the popliteal fossa.

Craniocerebral war missile injuries: clinical and radiological study.

In this study we reviewed the initial clinical and radiological management and early outcomes of 176 consecutive patients from the war in Croatia.

Surgical treatment of kinked internal carotid artery.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The aim of this study was to provide information on the diagnosis and treatment of kinking -- bends in the extracranial internal carotid artery (KICA), a rate but major and treatable cause of cerebral ischemia. PROJECT: A retrospective review of the seven-year experience in Split Hospital. ESSENTIAL DATA: The role of the surgical correction of carotid artery kinking has not yet been precisely defined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Of the 86 carotid revascularization operations performed in 76 patients from 1988 to 1994, 21 (29%) patients underwent surgery owing to symptomatic kinking of the internal carotid artery. This group included 8 females and 13 males with a mean age of 57.3+/-5.5 years (range 44-70). Symptoms included cerebrovascular insults in 43%, hemispheric transient ischemic attacks in 33%, reversible ischemic neurological deficit in 24% of patients. The diagnosis was made using two-dimensional ultrasound scan and Doppler, computerised tomography and angiographic evaluation. Two methods were used: the elimination of kinking and graft of the internal artery onto the common carotid artery with excision of the kinked section of the artery and end-to-end anastomosis. Dense fibrous tissues around the kinked artery were removed and the artery was freed along its entire course. The anomalous relationship between the internal carotid artery, occipital artery and hypoglossal nerve was corrected. RESULTS: After surgery seventeen patients fully recovered without neurological complications. One patient died, one patient suffered permanent neurological deficit, two suffered from transient ischemic attacks. CONCLUSIONS: Anatomic reconstruction together with the correction and elimination of the affected segments of the carotid artery may prevent progressive cerebrovascular symptoms and is associated with a low morbidity and mortality rate.

Orbitocranial war injuries: report of 14 cases.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we review the initial clinical and radiological management and early outcomes of 14 patients with orbitocranial war injuries treated at the University Hospital Split between 1991 and 1995. METHODS: This investigation involves 14 patients (13 soldiers and 1 civilian) with orbitocranial war injuries. The mean patient age was 31 years (range, 23-54 years). The penetrating object was a metal shrapnel fragment in 8 patients and a bullet in 6 patients. The results of clinical and radiological management were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: The mean time from the moment of wounding to hospital admission was 6 hours (range, 1-30 hours). The mean Glasgow Coma Scale score was 8 (range, 3-14). Craniotomy was the basic neurosurgical procedure, and three patients were treated with simple scalp wound debridement and closure. Osteoplastic operations of the orbital bones were performed in 13 patients. Enucleation/evisceration was performed in 6 patients (42.8%). At discharge, the mean Glasgow Outcome Scale score was 13, and 1 patient died in the hospital. Blindness (including amaurosis and anophthalmus) was present in nine eyes (8 patients), light-perception positivity and projection positivity were present in four eyes, and visual acuity was at 0.1 in 1 patient. CONCLUSION: An early multidisciplinary therapeutic approach and computed tomography as a diagnostic procedure are necessary for a good result in the treatment of orbitocranial war injuries.

Clinical and radiological management of wartime eye and orbit injuries.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to present our experience in treating 191 patients with eye and orbit injuries that occurred during the war in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. METHODS: The authors retrospectively reviewed the clinical and radiological management of wartime eye and orbit injuries in patients hospitalized at Clinical Hospital Split. RESULTS: Seventy-nine percent of the war eye and orbit injuries were caused by fragments of explosive devices, 9.9% by high-velocity missiles, and 8.4% by other objects. Most of the patients were admitted to the hospital within 24 hours of injury. The total number of injured globes was 222; 48.2% of globes had intrabulbar (mostly magnetic) foreign bodies, and 13% had extrabulbar intraorbital foreign bodies. Extensive wounds (perforation, double perforation, rupture, and evisceration/ enucleation) were encountered in 74% of patients, and 26% of patients had slight trauma. There was a statistically significant correlation between admission within the first 12 hours and postoperative visual acuity (Chi 2 = 3.93; p = 0.0474). CONCLUSION: Along with clinical examination, computed tomography is the most important diagnostic procedure in preoperative evaluation of various forms of globe and orbit injuries. The admission time is the most important factor in determining postoperative visual acuity.