A rare case of a giant cervical osteochondroma

Background: Osteochondroma or osteocartolaginous exostosis is the most common benign tumor of bone. They account for 35% to 50% of benign bone neoplasms and 10% to 15% of all primary bone tumors. Usually these tumors are found in the appendicular skeleton, especially in the metadiaphyseal region of long bones. Spinal osteochondromas, however, are uncommon especially at cervical level. Clinical presentation: We report the case of a 16 year old boy presenting a hard, gradually progressing, large swelling mass, over the posterior part of the neck causing pain. Radiological images revealed a giant solitary osteochondroma arising from C3 to C6 laminae. The patient underwent complete surgical exc…

L’esperienza di maternità nel reparto di neonatologia: percezione delle madri e degli operatori a confronto

Is there still a role for lesioning in functional neurosurgery: the Italian experience of delivering focused ultrasound high energy through a 1,5 tesla MR apparatus.

Ruolo dell’eritropoietina nei gliomi: dati sperimentali e clinici.

Valutazione retrospettiva sull'uso dei sistemi interspinosi per il trattamento mini-invasivi della stenosi spinale lombare: stato dell'arte e prospettive future

A rare case of extra-intramedullary dorsal tanycitic ependymoma, radically removed with intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring

Introduction: Tanycitic dorsal extra and intramedullary ependymoma is a rare form of tumor. From the histological point of view, these tumors show several aspects that make difficult the differential diagnosis from schwannomas and pilocytic astrocytomas. Tanycytic variant, often occurs in the thoracic tract of the spinal cord, and it is constituted by tanycites, that are typical elongated and bipolar cells that give to the tumor fibrillary aspects. Tanycitic variant has been recently characterized as a variant of ependymoma, since the 2000 World Health Organization (WHO) system. Case presentation: A 57 years old woman presented with intractable back pain often radiating to the left leg. Neu…

La nascita pretermine nell'ottica del "to care"

Premature birth in the perspective of “to care”. The article considers the implications of relationship between mother and premature baby during the stay in hospital. For babies’ evolution it’s very important the relationship between mother and sanitary personnel. The authors make reference to an ecological perspective of “to care”; this approach considers the baby connected with own environment, primarily the mother, who is the principal system of reference. We suppose that if medical team manages functions of protection, support and diagnosis,the mother can face the crisis of premature birth. If the mother feels self-efficacy, she’ll be able to overcome difficulties. We consider the corre…

Chronic inflammation causing spinal cord compression in human immunodeficiency virus infection

BACKGROUND: The incidence of central nervous system involvement has increased in the setting of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Although rarely reported, spinal cord compression, in the setting of AIDS, has been associated with primary lymphoma or opportunistic infections. CASE REPORT: The authors describe the case of a young man who was admitted to our institution with rapid and progressive paraplegia. Imaging studies revealed an extramedullary lesion compressing the spinal cord spanning 3 thoracic levels. Surgical treatment was performed, and the compressing process completely excised. Histologic examination of the lesion showed a chronic inflammatory tissue with many necrotic…

Ruolo dell’imaging funzionale nel management delle emorragie cerebrali atipiche: proposta di un protocollo diagnostico derivato dalla sperimentazione clinica

Enfisema sottocutano cervico-facciale e pneumomediastino dopo chirurgia cervicale con approccio anteriore: management diagnosticoterapeutico di una grave complicanza.

Unusual case of dorsal vertebral metastases from a male breast cancer

Introduction: Breast cancer is a malignant neoplasm arising from mammary glands and is a rare entity in the male patient. Spine is a common site for skeletal metastases. Case presentation: A 53-years-old male was admitted to our Neurosurgical unit because of an untreatable dorsal pain. He had been treated 3 years before for breast cancer. A dorsal Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) evidenced pathological masses at T8 level. A total body Computed Tomography (CT) scan revealed lungs and liver metastases. After a multidisciplinary consult, a posterior T8 decompression, a radiofrequency thermoablation in T8 vertebral body followed by screws and rods fixation (T7-T9) was performed. Post-operative …

Eosinophilic granuloma of the skull vault: A case report

Background: Eosinophilic granuloma is the benign form of Langerhans cell histiocytosis, a rare proliferative disorder. Skull osteolytic lesions are quite frequently encountered. Case report: We report the case of a 16 year old boy who was admitted to our Department with a painful swelling left frontal mass. A diagnosis of eosinophilic granuloma was presumed on the basis of the neuroradiological findings. Surgical removal of the lesion was achieved and the bone defect reconstructed by autologous fibrin glue and a titanium mesh. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis. Conclusion: Although uncommon, eosinophilic granuloma should be considered in the differential diagnosis in case of an osteoly…

Artrodesi cervicale anteriore con sistema ROI-C. Valutazione clinica preliminare.

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING–GUIDED FOCUSED ULTRASOUND THALAMOTOMY IN PATIENT WITH TREMOR COMBINED WITH PARKINSONISM: RETREATMENT AFTER BENEFIT DECAY

Background In recent years, transcranial Magnetic Resonance-guided Focused UltraSounds (tcMRgFUS) treatments for functional neurological disorders are giving a new thrust to the field of therapeutic brain lesioning. This technique has been proven safe and effective in selected patients. Here we present the case of a patient affected by tremor combined with parkinsonism who underwent a second tcMRgFUS thalamotomy because of relapsing tremor after a few months from the first tcMRgFUS treatment. Materials and Methods A 72-year-old, right-handed man, who came to our observation because of a disabling tremor affecting mainly his upper right limb and refusing any invasive surgical procedure. His …

Emergency Surgery ina a patient with large spontaneous epidurl hematoma determinig exellent neurological recovery: review of the literature

Study Design: Case report Objectives: we report a case of a 75-year-old woman suffering voluminous idiopathic spontaneous spinal epidural hematomas (SSEH) that was rapidly diagnosed and successfully treated Methods: Clinical presentation was characterized by sudden and intense back pain that rapidly evolved into plegia of the right leg and severe paresis of the left leg. Hypoesthesia below T6 and urinary retention were also present. The MRI showed a significant posterior spinal compression from T6 through L3 caused by an epidural hematoma that involved 10 metameric levels, extending for approximately 20 cm, with a maximum thickness of 1.6 cm from T12 to L1. Results: Within 12 hours, emergen…