Coexistent intracerebral metastatic melanoma and meningioma.

Coexistence of multifocal neural crest tumors, namely meningioma, melanoma, and nerve sheath tumors, is termed as neurocristopathy. Neurofibromatosis is the commonest form of neurocristopathy. We report a rare case of frontal lobe metastatic melanoma coexistent with a parietal lobe meningioma, in the absence of any stigmata of neurofibromatosis.

Transthoracic approach for lesions involving the anterior dorsal spine: A multidisciplinary approach with good outcomes.

INTRODUCTION: Anterior approach provides excellent visualization and access to the anterior thoracic spine. It may be used alone, in combination with a posterior midline approach or in a staged or sequential fashion. AIMS: To analyse our institutional experience in transthoracic approaches and to determine the safety and benefit of this approach in our patient series. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 16 patients were operated for varying lesions of body of dorsal vertebra by the transthoracic approach. The study was for a period of 5 years from January 2011 to December 2015. Patients age ranged from 25 to 61 years with an average of 36.4 yrs. There were 7 males and 9 females. In our series 9 patients had Kochs spine, 4 patients were traumatic fracture spine and 3 had neoplastic lesion. Majority of patients had multiple symptoms with backache being present in all patients. RESULTS: There was one post operative mortality which was unrelated to surgery. One patient had post operative delayed kyphosis. Remaining patients improved in their symptoms following surgery. CONCLUSION: With careful coordination by thoracic surgeons, neurospinal surgeons and anaesthetists, the anterior spine approach for dorsal spine is safe and effective. Adequate preoperative evaluation should stratify the risk and institute measures to reduce it. Accurate surgical planning and careful surgical technique are the key to yield a good outcome and to reduce the risk of complications.

Giant parietal lobe infantile gliosarcoma in a 5-year-old child.

The relative frequency of pediatric gliosarcoma (GSM) is 1.9% among glioblastomas and 0.5% among pediatric central nervous system tumors. A 5-year-old female child came to us with history of fever and loss of appetite since 2 weeks and right sided weakness since 4 days. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a large heterogeneously enhancing space occupying lesion in the left parieto-occipital region. A parieto-occipital craniotomy with radical excision of tumor was performed. The patient was given adjuvant therapy following surgery and survived until 9 months following surgery. The etiopathogenesis, treatment modalities and prognosis of GSM is discussed.

Primary yolk sac tumor of the cerebellar vermis: a case report.

Extragonadal germ cell tumors are rare and comprise 2-5% of all germ cell tumors. Seminoma/dysgerminoma, teratoma, yolk sac tumor (YST) and mixed germ cell tumors are few of the extragonadal germ cell tumors arising within the brain. Of these, primary pure YSTs arising in the brain are extremely rare and arise in the pineal (62%) and suprasellar (31%) regions. Primary YST occurring in the cerebellum is exceedingly rare, associated with a very poor prognosis and has been reported in less than 10 cases in literature. We herein report a case of primary pure yolk sac tumor in the cerebellar vermis in a 2-year-old child.

Everted skull fracture.

OBJECTIVE: Skull bone fractures are common in trauma. They are usually linear undisplaced or depressed; however, a distinct possibility of elevated fracture remains. We describe an entity of everted fracture skull in which the fracture segment is totally everted. The nature of trauma, management, and complications of this unique case are discussed. CASE REPORT: A 21-year-old woman involved in a railway accident presented to us with a primary dressing on her wound. Investigations revealed an everted fracture skull. She underwent surgery with good results. CONCLUSION: We would like to add everted fracture skull to the nomenclature describing skull fractures in addition to elevated compound fracture skull as a new entity.

Langerhans' cell histiocytosis involving posterior elements of the dorsal spine: An unusual cause of extradural spinal mass in an adult.

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a clonal proliferation of Langerhans cells occurring as an isolated lesion or as part of a systemic proliferation. It is commoner in children younger than 10 years of age with sparing of the posterior elements in more than 95% of cases. We describe a case of LCH in an adult female presenting with paraplegia. MRI revealed a well-defined extradural contrast enhancing mass at D2-D4 vertebral level involving the posterior elements of spine. D2-5 laminectomy with excision of lesion was performed which lead to marked improvement of patients neurological status. Histopathology was suggestive of eosinophilic granuloma. We describe the case, discuss its uniqueness and review the literature on this rare tumor presentation.