Massive bilateral paraclinoidal subdural empyema and parenchymal temporopolar abscess with anatomical infection pathway in a chronic inhaling cocaine-addicted patient: A case report and literature review.

Background: Focal suppurative bacterial infections of the central nervous system (CNS), such as subdural empyemas and brain abscesses, can occur when bacteria enter the CNS through sinus fractures, head injuries, surgical treatment, or hematogenous spreading. Chronic cocaine inhalation abuse has been linked to intracranial focal suppurative bacterial infections, which can affect neural and meningeal structures. Case Description: We present the case of a patient who developed a cocaine-induced midline destructive lesion, a vast bilateral paraclinoidal subdural empyema, and intracerebral right temporopolar abscess due to cocaine inhalation abuse. The infection disseminated from the nasal and paranasal cavities to the intracranial compartment, highlighting a unique anatomical pathway. Conclusion: The treatment involved an endoscopic endonasal approach, followed by a right frontal-temporal approach to obtain tissue samples for bacterial analysis and surgical debridement of the suppurative process. Targeted antibiotic therapy helped restore the patient's neurological status.

Isolated sphenoid sinus pathologies--the problem of delayed diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: Isolated sphenoid sinus pathologies are relatively rare. In the majority of cases, symptoms do not arise in the early stages of the disease or are non-specific, therefore making diagnosis difficult. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic process and the reasons for development of complications in patients with isolated sphenoid sinus pathology. MATERIAL/METHODS: The clinical data and observation charts of 32 patients were investigated to determine how long the main symptoms of sphenoid pathology had been present before the patients were referred for medical treatment, and the time that elapsed from the first ambulatory medical assessment to the initial diagnosis. RESULTS: Complaints and symptoms of sphenoid sinus pathology had been present for 10.2 months before the diagnosis was established. Although the duration of complaints in "ORL" (diagnosed by otorhinolaryngologist) and "non-ORL" (diagnosed by other specialists) group of patients was similar (10.8 and 9.5 months on average, respectively), unexpectedly, in the "non-ORL" group of patients, the time necessary for making the initial diagnosis was actually shorter than in the "ORL" group (1.8 vs 4.1 months). At the time of hospital admission, endoscopic examination revealed no abnormalities in 31.2% of patients. In 28.1% of patients the pathological process in the sphenoid sinus was diagnosed only after the onset of complications. CONCLUSIONS: The occult character of the disease and the lack of severe and specific symptoms, rather than the delay in getting extensive diagnostic tests, are responsible for the delayed diagnosis and treatment.

Endoscopic third ventriculostomy in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus.

OBJECTIVE: To define the role and indications for an endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) in patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (INPH). A series of 25 patients treated by endoscopic technique was analyzed, and the results were compared with those of 14 studies reporting patients treated by shunting. METHODS: Twenty-five patients with INPH were treated by ETV from January 1994 through December 2000. All were younger than 75 years of age, had a preoperative clinical history of 1 year or less, had prevalence of gait disturbance with scarce or mild dementia, had marked ventricular enlargement on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and had intracranial pressure values ranging from 8 to 12 mm Hg. All were studied by a phase-contrast MRI flow study 1 month after ETV. The 14 reviewed series of patients treated by shunting (all published after 1980) each include more than 25 patients, for a total of 777 patients. RESULTS: The overall rate of neurological improvement after ETV in our series was 72% (including two patients reoperated on because of absence of flow in the MRI scan); this percentage is slightly higher than that found in the 14 series of shunted patients (66%). Gait disturbance showed a high rate of improvement when compared with other symptoms, both in our ETV study and in other shunting series. Postoperative complications occurred only in one patient (4%) with an intracerebral frontal hemorrhage and in 37.9% of patients from the series including shunted patients. CONCLUSION: In patients with INPH showing short duration of symptoms, prevalence of gait disturbance, and slight mental impairment, ETV provides similar results to those of shunting. We suggest performing ETV in these patients and reserving shunting only for those who do not improve after ETV, despite the presence of cerebrospinal fluid flow through the ventriculostomy on MRI flow studies. The good results after ETV in our series indirectly confirm that the cerebrospinal fluid absorption is good or at least sufficient in selected patients with INPH.

Surgical treatment of intracavernous trigeminal schwannomas via a fronto-temporal epidural approach.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the fronto-temporal epidural approach in managing intracavernous trigeminal schwannomas. Five unselected patients harboring an intracavernous trigeminal schwannoma were operated on. Each of them was cured by a single craniotomy. In all cases the skull base approach described by Dolenc [Acta Neurochir. (Wien) 130 (1994) 55] was performed. The complete resection of the tumor and its capsule was gained in all five cases. There was no surgical mortality. No patient developed postoperative major complications. The fronto-temporal epidural approach can be applied for parasellar type trigeminal schwannomas, thus avoiding the exposure of the temporal lobe, and resulting in good chance for total excision of the tumor together with minimal surgical complications.

Chondroma of the petrous apex.

The clinicopathological features of a chondroma of petrous apex area examined with magnetic resonance (MRI) are presented. The extreme rarity of the location, the MRI aspect, and the surgical strategy based upon MRI studies make this case noteworthy.

Dysphagia and dyspnea due to an anterior cervical osteophyte.

Hypertrophic anterior cervical osteophytes have been reported as a cause of dysphagia, with about 100 cases described in the literature; on the other hand, chronic or acute dyspnea due to edema of the laryngeal inlet or bilateral vocal cord adduction-fixation is rare. We report a 57-year-old patient with a 2-year history of dysphagia and episodic dyspnea, who suffered sudden, severe respiratory distress necessitating emergency tracheotomy. A voluminous anterior cervical osteophyte at the C5 level was diagnosed by computed tomography (CT) and barium swallow test and removed by an anterior approach to the cervical spine, with clinical remission. The incidence, pathogenetic mechanisms, radiological diagnosis, and surgical indications of anterior cervical osteophytes associated with dysphagia and dyspnea are discussed. We advise examining cervical spine patients with dysphagia and/or dyspnea by radiography and CT when other investigations are not conclusive for a digestive or respiratory pathology.