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…

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…

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…

CCDC 831724: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: B.Maggio, D.Raffa, M.V.Raimondi, F.Plescia, M.L.Trincavelli, C.Martini, F.Meneghetti, L.Basile, S.Guccione, G.Daidone|2012|Eur.J.Med.Chem.|54|709|doi:10.1016/j.ejmech.2012.06.028