Spontaneous Cervical Epidural Abscess Caused by Serratia Marcescens.

Serratia marcescens infections are very rare and usually occur in the form of nosocomial and opportunistic infections. The subjects usually have severe medical comorbidities such as immunosuppression, diabetes mellitus, and renal failure. Spontaneous Serratia marcescens infection is very rare. In this case, we demonstrate that it can be seen in the spontaneous cervical epidural abscess. A 54-year female patient presented with a complaint of weakness in the left arm. Cervical magnetic resonance imaging revealed a spinal epidural abscess at the C5-6 level. Surgery was planned for this lesion. The abscess that created a cervical mass effect was totally removed and treatment with oral antibiotics was continued due to S. marcescens growth in the culture. This is the first case where S. marcescens has caused the development of a cervical epidural abscess in a patient without any medical comorbidity. Key Words: Serratia marcescens, Spinal epidural abscess, Vertebral osteomyelitis, Cervical discitis.

Combined Preoperative Embolization and Surgical Treatment of a Giant Aneurysmal Bone Cyst in the Lumbar Spine: A Case Study.

An aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC) is a vascular locally proliferative, non-neoplastic, benign lesion observed in children and young adults. 75% of ABCs occur before the age of twenty. The cyst frequently develops in the long bones and comprises 1.4% of primary bone tumors. Spinal ABC is rare and is typically observed in the thoracic and cervical regions. In the spinal region, the posterior elements of a single vertebra are usually involved. The lamina, pedicle, facet joints are more commonly affected. The lesion may also expand toward the corpus. We present a case involving successful total excision of a lumbar spinal giant ABC by combining surgery with preoperative coil embolization. Preoperative arterial embolization contributes to decreased morbidity and mortality rates by reducing the duration of surgery and occurrence of intraoperative hemorrhage.

Comparing the postoperative results of single-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, cervical disc prosthesis and minimal invasive posterior cervical disc surgery.

Objective: Comparison of preoperative and postoperative clinical characteristics of patients who underwent single-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, cervical discectomy and prosthesis or minimal invasive posterior cervical discectomy.Methods: The preoperative and the postoperative characteristics (0-, 3-, 12- and 24-month results) of patients who had undergone anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (24 patients, 40%), cervical discectomy and prosthesis (21 patients, 35%) or minimal invasive posterior cervical discectomy (15 patients, 25%), for single-level disc hernia of the C3 to C7 region at the Istanbul Yeni Yüzyil University Gaziosmanpasa Hospital between February 2015 and December 2017 were evaluated postoperatively using visual pain scales, neck disability index (NDI) values and Odom's criteria.Results: Postoperative visual analog scale and NDI scores were significantly decreased immediately after surgery in all groups (p < .001). Similarly, these two values at the second year were significantly decreased compared to post-op values (p < .001). When pre-op, post-op, third month, first year and second year scores were compared between the groups, a significant difference was found between the groups (p < .001). It was observed that the minimal invasive posterior cervical discectomy surgery was significantly better than the other two surgeries in all follow-up assessments (p < .001 for all follow-up).Conclusion: The early postoperative values of the visual pain scale and neck disability indicator were found to demonstrate immediate benefits of the surgeries, in addition to the further decrease at the 2-year follow-up in this study.

Cervical spine giant cell bone tumor: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Giant cell tumors (GCTs) of the bone are locally aggressive primary bone tumors with a benign character. Spinal involvement is rare and they are quite rare in the cervical spine. CASE PRESENTATION: A 31-year-old male patient presented with neck pain. Cervical CT revealed a lytic lesion extending posteriorly and causing the collapse of the C4 vertebra corpus. The patient underwent excision of the tumor extending from the anterior to the posterior with a single-stage anterior intervention followed by the placement of an anterior cage and plate-screw system for fusion. The pathology was reported as GCT. CONCLUSIONS: The posteriorly located lesion was widely curetted through an anterior approach in a single session.

Enlarging teratoma syndrome.

INTRODUCTION: Teratomas are derived from all three germ layers and make up 3% of all childhood tumors. They are histologically classified as mature or immature. We present a case that was operated on when 30 days old for a sacrococcygeal mature teratoma and then showed long segment involvement in the thoracolumbar region 9 months after the surgery. The MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) showed a mass starting at the thoracal 4 level and extending to the lumbar 3 level with significant spinal cord compression in the extradural space. RESULT: The laminae between thoracal 4 and lumbar 3 levels were removed en bloc at a single surgical session and laminoplasty was performed after tumor resection. We also removed the tumor growing into the extrapleural space at the thoracal 5, 6, and 9, 10, 11, 12 levels using the costotransversectomy procedure. CONCLUSIONS: We emphasize with this case that mature teratomas can show aggressive growth following surgery and that the development of spinal deformities can be prevented with laminoplasty.

Prevention of Epidural Fibrosis Using Ranibizumab in a Postlaminectomy Rat Model.

AIM: One of the most significant reasons for persistent low back pain experienced after spinal surgery is epidural fibrosis seen after laminectomy procedures. This study shows the effects of Ranibizumab on spinal epidural fibrosis in the laminectomy area by blocking the effect of vascular endothelial growth factor. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty Wistar rats were used in this study. Rats were divided into two groups; a control group and a ranibizumab group. Only laminectomy was performed to the control group. In the ranibizumab group, 0.6 mg/kg ranibizumab diluted in 0.9% NaCl with the ratio of 1:10 was applied topically. Three weeks later, the vertebral columns were resected en bloc including the whole laminectomy area in both groups and evaluated histopathologically. Results were compared using statistical tools. RESULTS: Based on the statistical analysis, our data show that less epidural fibrosis was seen in the ranibizumab group compared to the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Topically applied Ranibizumab is significantly effective in preventing epidural fibrosis in rats occurred after laminectomy.

Intramedullary schwannoma of conus medullaris with syringomyelia.

Intramedullary schwannomas of the spinal cord are rare tumors. They are most commonly observed in the cervical region; however, few have been described in the conus medullaris. The association of intramedullary schwannomas with syringomyelia is also rare. In this report, we present a case of intramedullary schwannoma of the conus medullaris with syringomyelia, which was treated surgically.

The Biochemical, Histopathological and Clinical Comparison of the Neuroprotective Effects of Subcutaneous Adalimumab and Intravenous Methylprednisolone in an Experimental Compressive Spinal Cord Trauma Model.

AIM: To evaluate the neuroprotective effects of adalimumab in an experimental spinal cord injury model and compare them with those of the widely-used methylprednisolone. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty male Wistar rats were divided into 5 as the sham, trauma, adalimumab, methylprednisolone, and adalimumab+methylprednisolone groups. Only laminectomy was performed in the sham group. Laminectomy and trauma was performed to the trauma group but no treatment was given. A single dose of 40 mg/kg subcutaneous adalimumab was administered after the laminectomy and trauma to group 3. A single dose of intravenous 30 mg/kg methylprednisolone was administered right after laminectomy and trauma to group 4. Single doses of 40 mg/kg adalimumab and 30 mg/kg methylprednisolone were administered together after laminectomy and trauma to group 5. Serum malondialdehyde (MDA), TNF-α, IL-1ß and IL-6 levels were measured and sections were obtained for histopathological study at the end of the 7 < sup > th < /sup > day. RESULTS: MDA, TNF-α, IL-1ß and IL-6 levels in serum were significantly decreased in the adalimumab group with clinical and histopathological improvement not less than the methylprednisolone group. The serum MDA levels were similar when the two drugs were given together or separately but there was a statistically quite significant decrease in TNF-α, IL-1ß and IL-6 levels with concurrent use. Statistically significantly better results were obtained on histopathological evaluation with the use of both drugs together. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that adalimumab is as effective as methylprednisolone in compressive spinal cord injury in rats.

Decompressive Hemicraniectomy for Malignant Middle Cerebral Artery Infarct.

AIM: Decompressive hemicraniectomy for a malignant middle cerebral artery infarct can be a life-saving surgical treatment. We aimed to investigate the surgical treatment results in cases that underwent decompressive hemicraniectomy for a malignant middle cerebral artery infarct in this study. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The clinical condition, radiological findings and surgical treatment results of 42 cases that underwent decompressive hemicraniectomy for a malignant middle cerebral artery infarct were retrospectively evaluated in this study. RESULTS: There were 19 males and 23 females. The age range was 27 to 78 years with a mean age of 57.6 years. The infarct area was the non-dominant hemisphere in 20 cases and the dominant hemisphere in 22 cases. Preoperative Glasgow coma scale (GCS) scores were 5 to 12. The 42 cases with a malignant middle cerebral artery infarct were divided into 2 groups according to the Glasgow outcome scale (GOS) as the unfavorable outcome group (Group 1) with a score of 1 to 3 and the favorable outcome group with a score of 4 to 5 (Group 2). There were 27 cases in Group 1 and 15 in Group 2. There was a statistically significant association between a good result and age, Glasgow coma scale at the time of surgery, duration until surgery, and non-dominant hemisphere involvement. All cases with a Glasgow coma scale score of 7 or below had a poor outcome. CONCLUSION: Decompressive hemicraniectomy in malignant middle cerebral artery infarct can be a life-saving procedure but is not useful in cases with a Glasgow coma scale score of 7 and below.

Lumbar Epidural Varicose Vein: Early Neurological Improvement and Late Radiological Full Recovery with Surgery; The Importance of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Follow-Up.

A lumbar epidural varicose vein is a rare clinical condition that can lead to neurological deficits. 3 types of lumbar epidural varicose veins were described according to the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings: Type 1 is a thrombosed dilated epidural vein, type 2 is a non-thrombosed dilated epidural vein and type 3 is a sub-membraneous epidural hematoma. Enlarged epidural venous plexuses must be decompressed if they have lead to a neurological deficit. Surgical treatment is by excision or disrupting the cyst's integrity. We present a case of lumbar epidural varicose vein that was surgically treated twice and showed no radiological change despite the disruption of integrity with a partial excision. The lesion spontaneously and completely disappeared in the late period. We emphasize the importance of MRI in follow-up.