Endoscopic Endonasal Surgery for a Pterygopalatine Fossa Hydatid Cyst.

Background: Cystic echinococcosis is a manifestation of a zoonosis caused by larvae of the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato and pterygopalatine fossa cases are extremely rare. Clinical Presentation and Findings: A 45-year-old Caucasian female with a history of repeated surgeries for HC was referred to our center for treatment of a cystic mass of the pterygopalatine fossa. Multiorgan dissemination was noted on preoperative imaging. Interventions: An endonasal endoscopic procedure was carried over under general anesthesia and the CE completely removed. Etiology was confirmed by molecular diagnostics. Three weeks after the skull base procedure, the patient underwent a combined abdominal/urological procedure for treatment of other cysts. Conclusion: This case shows that the pterygopalatine fossa HC are amenable to surgical treatment using the endonasal endoscopic approach. Extensive preoperative workup is essential to assess the extent of the disease.

Mortality and morbidity in surgically treated patients with petroclival meningiomas: a systematic review and meta-analysis of case series.

BACKGROUND: Reports on petroclival meningioma (PCM) surgical mortality and morbidity often deviate from established standards; as such, a comprehensive summary is lacking. METHODS: Eligibility/sources. Peer-reviewed case series of at least 10 PCM patients identified from PubMed, Web of Science, Ovid, or Google Scholar. Outcomes. Primary: mortality, tumor recurrence, any cranial nerve deficit (CND); other: individual CNDs, other complications. Data synthesis. Random-effects meta-analysis/meta-regression [effects: surgical approach (supratentorial, S; infratentorial, I; combined, (C), average age and follow-up, sample size, and percent of patients with gross-total resection (GTR)] of logit-transformed proportions. RESULTS: Data. 73 case-series/3553 patients. Mortality. Adjusted predicted mortalities of 2.4%, 2.5%, and 1.2% (50-month follow-up) for the S, I, and C approaches, respectively, with the upper limits of the 95% credibility intervals at 3.3%, 3.7%, and 3.6%, respectively. Recurrence. Adjusted predicted recurrences of 5.5%, 11.1%, and 12.0% (50-month follow-up and 57% GTR) for the S, I, and C approaches, respectively; recurrence was positively associated with follow-up period and negatively associated with having received GTR. At all covariates at median values but at GTR 90% predictions: 3.1% (95%CI 3.1-9.8), 6.3% (3.8-10.4), and 6.9% (3.4-13.2) with the S, I, and C; prediction credibility intervals 1-4% and 22.4%. Any CND. Adjusted predicted probabilities of 37.2%, 23.4%, and 29.5% (at median covariate values) for the S, I, and C approaches, respectively; prediction credibility intervals ranged from <10% to 78%. Other outcomes. The most common individual CNDs were nVII (14.4%), nV (11.5%), and nIII (10.2%); other common complications included motor deficit (10.8%), infection (9.8%), and CSF leak (7.5%). CONCLUSION: This is the first systematic review on PCM surgical mortality, recurrence, and morbidity. Outcomes differ between surgical approaches and reporting quality varies greatly.

Predictors of Functional Outcome after Spinal Ependymoma Resection.

AIM: Spinal ependymomas are among the most common intramedullary neoplasms in both adults and children. While surgical resection is the golden treatment standard, the role chemotherapy and radiotherapy have in patients with spinal ependymomas remains unclear. The aim of this study is to determine the predictors of functional outcome following spinal ependymoma resection to single out patients that may require adjuvant therapy. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study on patients that underwent spinal ependymoma resection in our institution in a 10-year period. Magnetic resonance imaging of the spine was used to set the diagnosis of an intradural/intramedullary neoplasm. All patients underwent either gross tumor resection or tumor mass reduction. Histological diagnosis and histopathological grading of spinal ependymoma were done for all collected samples. Patients' general and neurological examination were performed early after the surgery (within the 1st week) and in a 6-month follow-up. RESULTS: A total of 51 intradural and intramedullary ependymoma resection surgeries on 43 patients were performed. There were slightly more male patients (57%) and the average patient age was 41 years. About 76.5% of patients presented with a tumor affecting one vertebrae level, while 23.5% presented with tumors expanding over two or more spinal regions. Gross tumor resection was achieved in 80% of cases, while 25% of procedures were performed on a recurring ependymomas. Most of the tumors (57%) were classified as G2 histological grade, while 8% were anaplastic ependymomas. In 80% of cases, early postoperative patient status was either better or equivalent to the preoperative one, while in a 6-month follow-up, up to 60% of cases showed a significant improvement over the preoperative status. Different demographic and clinical parameters were not proven to be predictors of postsurgical patient outcome including age, gender, and initial neurological presentation. Interestingly, most tumor characteristics were also not associated with postoperative functional outcome (histological grade, number of vertebrae levels affected, whether it is a primary or recurrent tumor). Even the scope of surgical procedure did not affect the functional outcome. The spinal region affected by the tumor was proven to be a predictor of early postoperative outcome (ρ= 0.346, P = 0.033), with lumbar spine being associated with the best outcomes. As expected, the scope of the surgery and whether gross tumor resection or tumor mass reduction was performed were the only significant predictors of tumor recurrence (ρ= 0.391, P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Spinal ependymoma resection is an efficient procedure that improves the patient outcomes. Spinal region affected by the tumor is likely to be the most important predictor of functional outcome, while the procedure scope seems to be the most important predictor of tumor recurrence.

Intracranial Epidural Haematoma following Surgical Removal of a Giant Lumbosacral Schwannoma: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Postoperative intracranial epidural haematoma (EDH) is an extremely rare complication following spinal surgery, with only a handful of cases described in the literature. We report the case of a 16-year-old girl who underwent a successful subtotal resection of a giant lumbosacral schwannoma (L2-S2 level). Recovery from general anaesthesia was uneventful; however, her neurological status deteriorated rapidly within 24 h after surgery. A head computed tomography scan revealed a large right frontoparietal EDH with midline shift. An immediate frontotemporoparietal osteoplastic craniotomy and evacuation of the EDH were performed. At 1 year postoperatively, the patient regained full neurological recovery with no radiological signs of growth of the residual tumour.

Management of Cushing's disease: a single-center experience.

The purpose of this study was to review therapeutic outcomes and comorbidities of patients with Cushing's disease (CD) in a single center. We conducted a retrospective study of 33 patients with CD undergoing transsphenoidal surgery from January 2007 to February 2014 (27 females and 6 males, median age 38 years, range 18-71 years). The diagnosis of Cushing's syndrome was established on the basis of the patient's history, characteristic clinical features, and laboratory data including an elevated 24-h urinary free cortisol level, lack of serum cortisol suppression after dexamethasone suppression tests and an elevated midnight cortisol level. In 28/33 patients, the tumor was visualized on MR of the sellar region, while in 5 it was diagnosed using an inferior petrosal sinus sampling. Out of the 33 patients, 10 had macroadenoma and the remaining 23 had microadenoma. Twenty-one patients (63.6%) had hypertension, 17 (51.5%) dyslipidemia, and 7 (21.2%) had type 2 diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance. The median follow-up period was 28 months. Remission after transsphenoidal surgery was achieved in 78.8% of patients, while 7 patients failed to achieve disease remission. Those patients were treated with second-line treatment modalities (second operation, radiotherapy, bilateral adrenalectomy, and/or ketoconazole). One patient rejected all the treatment modalities after surgery. Cumulative remission after all the treatment modalities was achieved in 87.9% patients. Patients with Cushing's disease should be managed in centers with much experience due to high patient load. In our Center, the remission of the disease has been achieved in 78.8% of the patients following transsphenoidal surgery. Multimodal treatment which included radiotherapy and medical treatment led to biochemical remission of the disease in 87.9% of patients.

Medical and social care in Rovinj from the mid 15th to the mid 19th century.

By using published and unpublished sources from various archival series kept in the Rovinj Heritage Museum, Chapter Archives of Rovinj and the Diocesan Archives of Porec the authors shed new light and present the health and social care system in the city of Rovinj covering the period which goes from the mid 15th to the mid 19th century. Altruistic mentality of individual citizens, lay and ecclesiastical institutions as well as the need to prevent diseases urged the foundation of medical-social-religious-charitable institutions. In the researched period Rovinj flourished demographically and economically, so that health and social institutions included offices in charge of prevention. When it came to various aspects of social activities, decisions were made by the foreign political authorities--Venetian, French and Austrian administration, although the first initiative would always come from the Rovinj Commune or individual citizens.

Dexamethasone for adult community-acquired bacterial meningitis: 20 years of experience in daily practice.

UNLABELLED: The aim of the study was to assess adjunctive intravenous dexamethasone in adult community-acquired bacterial meningitis (BM) in daily practice. Analysis of consecutive patients (1990-2009) with acute community-acquired bacterial meningitis in a single centre in Zagreb, Croatia, N = 304. Adjusted relative risks [RR, dexamethasone vs. no dexamethasone (control)] of Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) = 1 (death) and GOS = 5 (full recovery) at discharge/end of specific treatment were estimated considering demographics; co-morbidity; BM pathogenesis and on-admission characteristics, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) inflammation markers; causative agent and antibiotic use. Two hundred forty (79%) patients had proven BM (43.1% Streptococcus pneumoniae, any other agent ≤ 8.2%). No independent effects of dexamethasone on GOS = 1 or GOS = 5 were observed in the entire cohort (dexamethasone n = 119, control n = 185; RR = 1.06, 95% CI 0.77-1.45 and RR = 0.99, CI 0.83-1.20, respectively), microbiologically proven disease (dexamethasone n = 104, control n = 136; RR = 0.97, CI 0.69-1.38 and RR = 1.03, CI 0.82-1.28), pneumococcal disease (dexamethasone n = 71, control n = 60; RR = 0.95, CI 0.53-1.70 and RR = 0.82, CI 0.57-1.18), and also in other BM, subgroups based on consciousness disturbance, CSF markers, prior use of antibiotics and timing of appropriate antibiotic treatment. CSF markers did not predict the outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Our experience does not substantiate the reported benefits of adjunctive dexamethasone in adult BM. Socio-economic and methodological factors do not seem to explain this discrepancy. Empirical use of dexamethasone in this setting appears controversial.

Acute encephalopathy associated with Campylobacter jejuni enteritis.

We present for the first time a case of acute encephalopathy in an adult patient induced by Campylobacter jejuni enteritis. Possible pathogenic mechanisms and importance of neuropsychological testing in the assessment of infection-related encephalopathy are discussed.

Leukoencephalopathy in pneumococcal meningitis: a diagnostic pitfall and treatment challenge.

We present a case of pneumococcal meningitis complicated by leukoencephalopathy. Possible pathogenic mechanisms, a diagnostic pitfall, and optimal treatment options are discussed.

Neuromyelitis optica with CSF examination mimicking bacterial meningomyelitis.

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is a rare inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that causes severe attacks of optic neuritis and myelitis. Abnormal CSF findings are one of the characteristics of NMO that help to distinguish it from classical multiple sclerosis. Here we describe two cases of Devic's syndrome with CSF findings suggestive of bacterial meningomyelitis.