Quiste aracnoidal cervical anterior en edad pediátrica / Anterior cervical arachnoid cyst in pediatric age

Los quistes aracnoidales espinales son lesiones poco comunes en la población pediátrica. La mayor parte de ellos, se ubican en los segmentos dorsales y la posición anterior respecto a la médula es rara en todos los casos. Si bien su patogenia no está aclarada, se han asociado a defectos del tubo neural y traumas previos. Clínicamente, pueden presentarse con síndrome medular que en ocasiones pueden empeorar con cambios posturales. El tratamiento, puede ser conservador o quirúrgico, el que está indicado en presencia de síntomas neurológicos secundarios a compresión medular, siendo el abordaje posterior el más frecuentemente utilizado. El propósito de la cirugía es la resección total o en su defecto, la fenestración del quiste para comunicarlo al espacio subaracnoídeo. Una potencial complicación de la vía posterior, es la herniación medular durante la durotomía, secundaria al efecto compresivo del quiste, la cual podría aumentar la morbilidad neurológica en el período postoperatorio. Se presentan 2 casos consecutivos en edad pediátrica con quistes intradurales espinales anteriores, el primero en la región cervico-dorsal cuya cirugía se vio dificultada por la presencia de herniación medular transdural y un segundo caso con un quiste exclusivamente cervical, en que mediante una punción lateral del quiste guiada por ecografía previo a la durotomía, se logró resecar la lesión sin esta complicación.

Spinal arachnoid cysts are rare lesions in pediatric population. Most of them are located posteriorly in dorsal segments ananterior position is rare. Although its pathogenesis has not been elucidated, they have been associated with neural tube defects and the presence of previous spinal traumas. Clinically, they present with a spinal cord syndrome which can sometimes worsen with postural changes. Treatment may be conservative or surgical, the latter indicated by the presence of neurological symptoms secondary to spinal cord compression, with the posterior approach being the most frequently used. The purpose of surgery is total or partial resection, or fenestration of the cyst to subarachnoid space. A potential intra-surgical complication of posterior approach in anterior cyst is spinal cord herniation during durotomy, secondary to the compressive effect of the cyst, which could increase neurological morbidity in the postoperative period (1 case with mortality is described in the literature). We present 2 consecutive cases in pediatric patients with previous spinal intradural cysts. The first in the cervico-dorsal region whose surgery was hampered by the presence of medullary transdural herniation and second case with an exclusively cervical cyst that through a side puncture cyst guided by ultrasound prior to durotomy, it was possible to resect the lesion without this complication.

Delayed intracranial hypertension and cerebral edema in severe pediatric head injury: risk factor analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Diffuse brain edema has been described as a major cause of intracranial hypertension (IH) following traumatic brain injury (TBI), and several studies suggest that it may be more frequent in children than in adults. While most cases of IH following TBI are present from the beginning, several studies have described a subgroup of patients with delayed elevations in intracranial pressure (ICP). METHODS: Retrospective review of severe pediatric TBI cases admitted to a single institution during a 6-year period. Patients were classified into three groups, based on the temporal evolution of ICP: patients who evolved without IH, patients who had IH at admission and patients with delayed IH. A risk factor analysis was performed to find differences between these groups. RESULTS: 31 cases of severe pediatric TBI were analyzed. 13 patients were female and 18 male, with an average age of 8.9 years. 4 patients met the described criteria for delayed IH; the only significant risk factor was presence of edema at the initial brain CT (p = 0.008). 3 additional patients presented clinical deterioration after 48 h and signs of brain edema in the CT, after ICP monitoring had been discontinued. CONCLUSIONS: Late-onset IH is a relatively common clinical condition in the pediatric population with severe TBI (present in 13% of the cases in our series), and the presence of a Marshall III CT scan at admission is a significant risk factor for this condition. Pediatric patients may benefit from a more prolonged period of ICP monitoring than adults, and the lack of amelioration of brain edema at follow-up brain CT (even with normal ICP values) may be an indication that more prolonged monitoring is needed.