1/25. Cranio-orbital-temporal neurofibromatosis: are we treating the whole problem?Cranio-orbital-temporal neurofibromatosis is an uncommon subtype of neurofibromatosis 1 characterized by pulsatile exophthalmos, orbital neurofibromas, sphenoid wing dysplasia, expansion of the temporal fossa, and herniation of the temporal lobe into the orbit. The cause of the sphenoid wing dysplasia is uncertain. Reconstruction of the sphenoid defect, separating the orbit and cranial vault, has been problematic because of resorption of bone grafts. This reports illustrates one potential cause of the sphenoid defect and a possible cause of the bone graft resorption.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = herniation (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/25. anesthesia for cesarean section in two patients with brain tumours.PURPOSE: To describe two patients with brain tumours where general anesthesia was used for cesarean sections under emergency and urgent conditions. CLINICAL FEATURES (CASE #1): The first patient presented at 38 wk gestation with an acute intracranial tumour herniation, requiring emergency craniotomy and simultaneous cesarean section. General anesthesia was induced with thiopental and vecuronium, maintained with enflurane 1% in O2 100%. Maternal P(ET)CO2 was maintained at 25 mmHg. After delivering a healthy infant, she was given syntocinon, mannitol and dexamethasone i.v. anesthesia was maintained with fentanyl, nitrous oxide 50% in O2 and isoflurane 1% during frontal-lobe tumour resection. CLINICAL FEATURES (CASE #2): The second patient presented at 37 wk gestation for urgent cesarean section because of placental insufficiency. She had had a brain tumour resection four years earlier. An increase in intracranial pressure necessitated craniotomy for decompression at 20 wk gestation. She was further treated with dexamethasone, carbamazepine and radiation for control of cerebral oedema at 34 wk. cesarean section was performed under general anesthesia; rapid-sequence-induction with thiopental and succinylcholine, followed by isoflurane 1% in O2 100%. Syntocinon, fentanyl and atracurium i.v. were administered after delivery of a healthy infant. Although neurosurgeons stood by, their intervention was unnecessary. CONCLUSION: General anesthesia remains safe and dependable for operative delivery in parturients with intracranial tumour. Tracheal intubation allows maternal hyperventilation thereby controlling raised intracranial pressure. Hemodynamic stability is readily achieved to maintain cerebral perfusion. However, a multidisciplinary-team approach is critical for successful patient management.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = herniation (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/25. A huge frontal meningioma associated with intraoperative massive bleeding and severe brain swelling--case report.A 58 year old female presented with progressive memory disturbance and personality change. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging disclosed a huge mass lesion accompanied by prominent oedema in the right frontal lobe. Cerebral angiogram demonstrated a vascular-rich tumour and a major drainer through diploic vein. A right frontotemporal craniotomy was performed. We encountered massive bleeding from diploic vein and dura mater immediately at the craniotomy. We were also faced with severe brain swelling at the dural incision. The tumour was solid, highly vascularised, and fairly well demarcated. We performed total removal of the tumour as quickly as possible in order to reduce the intracranial hypertension and avoid the impending brain herniation. The patient had an uneventful recovery and was asymptomatic at 10 months follow-up.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = herniation (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/25. Chronic meningitis presenting with acute obstructive hydrocephalus.A previously healthy 24-year-old woman presented to the Emergency Department unresponsive with a glasgow coma scale score of 4 and evidence of brainstem herniation. She was intubated and hyperventilated. Computed axial tomography scan of the brain demonstrated four-chamber hydrocephalus. Continued hyperventilation and mannitol diuresis were sufficient to arrest the impending herniation while emergent ventriculostomy was arranged. The patient recovered without sequelae and ultimately received a diagnosis of chronic idiopathic meningitis. This case highlights a rarely diagnosed disorder that presented with an acutely life threatening condition.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = herniation (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/25. Resolution of papilledema after neurosurgical decompression for primary Chiari I malformation.PURPOSE: To report a causal relationship between Chiari I malformation and its rare, but recognized manifestation of bilateral papilledema. DESIGN: Interventional case series. methods: Four adult female patients (mean age, 48, age range 25-59 years) with bilateral papilledema, signs and symptoms of increased intracranial pressure, and cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evidence of a Chiari I malformation ranging from 7 to 22 mm of tonsillar herniation underwent suboccipital decompression. RESULTS: In all four patients, suboccipital decompression was followed by resolution of bilateral papilledema and signs and symptoms of increased intracranial pressure. CONCLUSION: patients with bilateral papilledema and presumed pseudotumor cerebri require a cranial MRI to determine if they have a Chiari I malformation, because patients with increased intracranial pressure and papilledema from a Chiari I malformation may benefit from suboccipital decompression.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = herniation (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/25. Prehospital cardiac arrest in diabetic ketoacidemia: why brain swelling may lead to death before treatment.An adolescent is reported with type 1 diabetes mellitus and diabetic ketoacidemia (DKA) who died from brain herniation prior to treatment with intravenous fluids and intravenous insulin. The pathophysiology of raised intracranial pressure (ICP) and water intoxication is discussed. As DKA evolves, water and electrolyte losses are replaced by very hypotonic fluids taken orally, leading to a physiologic excess of free water that would cause brain swelling prior to treatment. central nervous system acidosis may interfere with normal compensatory mechanisms that help prevent small increases in ICP. The pathophysiology of pre-treatment brain swelling has important implications for rehydration with intravenous fluids and treatment with insulin. Prevention of DKA is paramount as well as complete postmortem evaluation of patients who die from this disease.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = herniation (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/25. Proposed use of prophylactic decompressive craniectomy in poor-grade aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage patients presenting with associated large sylvian hematomas.OBJECTIVE: As a group, patients who present in poor neurological grade after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) often have poor outcomes. There may be subgroups of these patients, however, in which one pathological process predominates and for which the initiation of specific therapeutic interventions that target the predominant pathological process may result in improved outcome. We report the use of prophylactic decompressive craniectomy in patients presenting in poor neurological condition after SAH from middle cerebral artery aneurysms with associated large sylvian fissure hematomas. Craniectomy allowed significant parenchymal swelling in the posthemorrhagic period without increased intracranial pressure (ICP) or herniation syndrome. methods: Eight patients (mean age, 56.5 yr; age range, 42-66 yr) presented comatose with SAH (five Hunt and Hess Grade IV, three Hunt and Hess Grade V). Radiographic evaluations demonstrated middle cerebral artery aneurysm and associated large sylvian fissure hematoma (mean clot volume, 121 ml; range, 30-175 ml). patients were brought emergently to the operating room and treated with a modification of the pterional craniotomy and aneurysm clipping that included a planned craniectomy and duraplasty. A large, reverse question mark scalp flap was created, followed by bone removal with the following margins: anterior, frontal to the midpupillary line; posterior at least 2 cm behind the external auditory meatus; superior up to 2 cm lateral to the superior sagittal sinus; and inferior to the floor of the middle cranial fossa. Generous duraplasty was performed using either pericranium or suitable, commercially available dural substitutes. RESULTS: All of the eight patients tolerated the craniectomy without operative complications. Postoperatively, all patients experienced immediate decreases in ICP to levels at or below 20 mm Hg (presentation mean ICP, 31.6 mm Hg; postoperative mean ICP, 13.1 mm Hg). ICP control was sustained in seven of eight patients, with the one exception being due to a massive hemispheric infarction secondary to refractory vasospasm. Follow-up (> or = 1 yr, except for one patient who died during the hospital stay) demonstrated that the craniectomy patients had a remarkably high number of good or excellent outcomes. The outcomes in the hemicraniectomy group were five good or excellent, one fair, and two poor or dead. CONCLUSION: The data gathered in this study demonstrate that decompressive craniectomy can be performed safely as part of initial management for a subcategory of patients with SAH who present with large sylvian fissure hematomas. In addition, the performance of decompressive craniectomy in the patients described in this article seemed to be associated with rapid and sustained control of ICP. Although the number of patients in this study is small, the data lend support to the hypothesis that decompressive craniectomy may be associated with good or excellent outcome in a carefully selected subset of patients with SAH.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = herniation (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/25. Discrepancies between brain CT imaging and severely raised intracranial pressure proven by ventriculostomy in adults with pneumococcal meningitis.OBJECTIVES: Computed tomography (CT) of the brain is recommended for assessment of intracranial pressure (ICP) of patients with acute bacterial meningitis who are comatose or show focal neurological deficits. The aim of this report is to draw attention to the possibility of a discrepancy between CT findings and ICP values in some patients with pneumococcal meningitis. methods: We describe three adult patients with pneumococcal meningitis who had both successive CT examinations and ICP measurements at the time of clinically evident cerebral herniation (n = 2) and/or prolonged coma (n = 2). RESULTS: Although measurements with a ventriculostomy catheter indicated that all three patients had severely raised ICP values of 90, 44, and 45 mmHg, repeated cranial CT greatly underestimated true ICP values. Despite clinical evidence of acute cerebral herniation, it was not detected in the contemporary CT findings of two patients. Continuous ICP monitoring in the ICU helped to guide treatment for increased ICP; nevertheless, two patients died. CONCLUSIONS: The clinician must be aware that cranial CT may fail to rule out the possibility of severely raised ICP or cerebral herniation in a patient with pneumococcal meningitis. Therefore, ICP monitoring of patients with bacterial (especially pneumococcal) meningitis who are in prolonged coma should be considered early and regardless of the cranial CT appearances.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 3keywords = herniation (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/25. meningocele-induced positional syncope and retinal hemorrhage.meningocele is recognized as a rare, usually asymptomatic condition not associated with acute neurologic symptoms. We herein describe the case of a patient with a longstanding history of a lower back "mass" and recurrent syncope who became acutely unresponsive and developed bilateral retinal hemorrhages when she was placed in the supine position to undergo carotid sonography. MR imaging revealed a large, dorsal lumbar meningocele. The episode likely was caused by acutely increased intracranial pressure caused by displacement of CSF from the meningocele intracranially.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.30601047161479keywords = meningocele (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/25. High and low pressure states associated with posterior sacral meningocele.We describe the rare cases of a 44-year-old woman and a 28-year-old woman each presenting with a large posterior sacrococcygeal mass and alternating symptoms of high and low intracranial pressure. The first patient underwent excision of her large sacral meningocele and simple ligation of the neck, resulting in resolution of all her associated symptoms. The second patient suffered traumatic rupture of the meningocele; she underwent excision of the redundant sac and repair of the dural defect using a musculofascial flap, also resulting in resolution of her symptoms.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.91803141484438keywords = meningocele (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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