Isolated glossopharyngeal and vagus nerves palsy due to fracture involving the left jugular foramen.

This report describes a case of delayed post-traumatic glossopharyngeal and vagus nerves palsy (i.e. dysphonia and swallowing dysfunction). A high resolution CT study of the cranial base detected a fracture rim encroaching on the left jugular foramen. Treatment consisted in supportive measures with incomplete recovery during a one-year follow-up period. Lower cranial nerves palsies after head trauma are rare and, should they occur, a thorough investigation in search of posterior cranial base and cranio-cervical lesions is warranted. The presumptive mechanism in our case is a fracture-related oedema and ischemic damage to the nerves leading to the delayed occurrence of the palsy.

Correlation between histological grade, MIB-1, p53, and recurrence in 69 completely resected primary intracranial meningiomas with a 6 year mean follow-up.

Sixty-nine intracranial, totally excised meningiomas were immunostained for MIB-1 and p53 protein expression. According to the 1993 WHO criteria, revised by Perry et al., the 69 meningiomas were classified into: grade I = 54 benign meningiomas, grade II = 10 atypical meningiomas, grade III = 5 malignant meningiomas. The patients were followed until death or for an average of 6.7 years. The 69 meningiomas were divided into two groups, according to the absence (n = 42) or presence (n = 27) of recurrences. In the last group we included 3 patients who died of meningioma recurrence. According to the percentage of MIB-1 positively stained cells, meningiomas were divided into three groups: <1% (n = 36), 1-10% (n = 28), >10% (n = 5). We found the MIB-1 labeling index (LI) <1% in 33 grade I (61%) and in 3 grade II (30%) meningiomas. On the other hand, 7 grade II (70%) and all grade III (100%) meningiomas presented a MIB-1 LI >1%. Correlation between histological grade and MIB-1 LI was statistically significant (p = 0.0006). The correlation between MIB-1 LI and follow-up was also highly significant (p < 0.001): the majority of meningiomas which did not recur (32/42 equal to 76%) were characterized by a low (<1%) MIB-1 LI. In the recurrence group MIB-1 LI was significantly higher than in the disease-free patients' group. Moreover, MIB-1 appeared to be a prognostic parameter not strongly related to the histological grade. In fact, it was significantly higher in recurrent histologically benign meningiomas, as compared with benign meningiomas without recurrence (p = 0.0006). Positive p53 protein expression (>1%) was shown in 26/45 meningiomas (57%), with an LI of 1-10% in 18 (40%) and an LI of >10% in 8 (17%) meningiomas. Although the p53 LI tended to be higher in atypical and malignant meningiomas, no significant correlation was found between the p53 expression and the recurrence (p = 0.05). The authors conclude that quantitative MIB-1 labeling is a useful technique in the routine diagnostic assessment of meningiomas, and helpful in obtaining more information about prognosis and thereby in planning the most suitable treatment.

Hemorrhagic unilateral moyamoya: report of one case.

A 29 year old woman presented with an intracerebral hemorrhage. Angiographic findings were consistent with unilateral moyamoya. The patient was managed non-surgically and discharged with the indication of periodical followup angiography. Moyamoya is a rare entity that must be considered in the differential diagnosis of ischemic or hemorrhagic cerebrovascular events. At present, the natural history of unilateral moyamoya is not well established in relation to the progression to a bilateral form and to rebleeding risk. Periodical follow-up angiography (conventional or MRI) seems a reasonable management strategy.