An unusual case of penetrating head injury with excellent recovery

We report the remarkable case of the passage of a heavy metal rod through the head of a 42-year-old man. The patient had an excellent outcome because of prompt and efficient rescue efforts combined with transport to a major neurosurgical trauma center. Reference is made to a somewhat similar case publicized over 130 years ago     

An unusual case of atlanto-axial traumatic dislocation in a child

The authors refer about a rare case of traumatic atlo-axial dislocation observed three months after the accident. The traumatic etiology was caused by an episode of violence within child's family. The characteristic of the lesion, the months intervened since the traumatic accident, the involved health of the patient and the importance of neurological damage imposed the surgical corrective treatment of the lesion. The authors report about the care of the patient, particularly about the anesthesiological techniques and intensive care during the surgical treatment.     

An unusual case of Bouveret's syndrome

A 69-year-old man presented to the emergency department with a 12-hour history of severe abdominal pain. His medical history was significant for a small-bowel obstruction that resolved with conservative therapy 4 months prior to admission. In the distant past, a Billroth II gastric resection was performed for ulcer disease. He was hypothermic, and laboratory studies showed elevated serum liver and pancreatic enzymes. A CT scan of the abdomen demonstrated fat stranding and a small amount of free air in the area of the pancreas. Gram-negative rods subsequently grew from blood cultures. A presumptive diagnosis of necrotising pancreatitis was made, and supportive care was instituted. Follow-up CT scan performed several days later demonstrated a large filling defect in the stomach. Endoscopy showed this defect to be a giant gallstone, and the diagnosis of Bouveret's syndrome was made. The patient underwent laparotomy. A duodenal perforation in the posterior aspect of the fourth portion was identified. The perforation had been caused by chronic impaction of the giant stone. The stone was removed through the perforation, and the perforation was closed in multiple layers. Drainage of the retroperitoneum was effected through large catheters placed through the flank. The presentation, diagnostic evaluation, treatment, and complications of this condition are discussed.     

An unusual penetrating shoulder injury: a case report

Abstract A 32-year-old male sustained penetrating injury of the right shoulder with an angled iron rod in a road side accident. He presented with the rod in situ in his shoulder. Fortunately there was no neurovascular deficit. The metal rod was carefully removed with success, after cutting the rod with hacksaw to avoid neurovascular damage during removal.     

An unusual case of impalement injury to the urinary bladder

Isolated impalement injury to the urinary bladder is a rare occurrence. We present a case in which the delay in the diagnosis reveals the potential pitfalls in the management of such injuries.     

Cerebral salt wasting syndrome secondary to head injury: a case report]

A case of cerebral salt wasting syndrome secondary to head injury is reported here. A 4-year-old boy was admitted to our hospital with head injury. Neurological examination revealed no abnormal findings other than consciousness disturbance. Plain skull X-ray demonstrated a linear fracture of the bilateral parietal bones, and CT scan demonstrated subarachnoid hemorrhage of the tentorium of the cerebellum. He gradually improved, but on the 6th day deterioration of consciousness developed. At that time CT scan demonstrated no abnormal findings. Biochemical analysis showed hyponatremia (116mEq/L) with increased natriuresis. Although a high dose of NaCl was supplied, serum sodium levels did not normalize. So we suspected that SIADH might be causing the hyponatremia, and water restriction was started. He lost 1 kg in body weight over 3 days, but serum sodium levels remained low (118mEq/L) with increased natriuresis. We found that the hyponatremia was caused by cerebral salt wasting syndrome, so we treated the patient with fludrocortisone acetate. Consciousness disturbance improved two days after the medication with fludrocortisone acetate, and serum sodium levels became normal (137mEq/L) on the 27th day. The administration of fludrocortisone acetate was able to be stopped two months after admission, and then the patient was discharged without any neurological deficits. We discussed in detail the diagnosis and the treatment of cerebral salt wasting syndrome.     

An unusual penetrating craniocerebral injury due to landmine explosion: a case report

Penetrating landmine injuries are the unavoidable consequences of military conflicts. They are potentially life-threatening. The mortality rates in the literature range from 23% to 92% and are considerably higher in patients admitted with poor neurologic state. Penetrating craniocerebral injuries require early surgical management designated to prevent infection and remove foreign objects, necrotic tissue and complicating blood clots, as well as to minimalize post-traumatic sequelae. We report herein an interesting case of penetrating intracerebral injury with giant shrapnel due to landmine in a 20-year-old young man.     

An unusual penetrating injury of the cheek: a case report

The immediate management of an unusual penetrating injury of the cheek is described. The early problems that arose following operation and their management are discussed. There is very little residual disturbance of function and surgical revision of the facial scars is being deferred for the time being.     

An unusual case of neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome

IntroductionNeurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome (nTOS) is the most common manifestation of thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS), accounting for more than 95% of cases. It is usually caused by cervical ribs, anomalies in the scalene muscle anatomy or post-traumatic inflammatory changes causing compression of the brachial plexus.Case presentation: We present an unusual case of nTOS caused by a cystic lymphangioma at the thoracic outlet, with only one case reported previously in the literature. We used a combined supraclavicular and transaxillary approach for complete removal, which resulted in excellent recovery of the patient.DiscussionThough lymphatic cysts may be commonly encountered in surgical practice, compression causing nTOS is extremely rare. The location of the lymphatic cyst with compression of the brachial plexus may provide a challenge for treatment. Surgical excision is the preferred method of management, with higher success rates than sclerotherapy.ConclusionSurgical excision to ensure complete removal of the cyst is recommended. Sclerotherapy may be used in cases where complete excision of the cyst wall may not be possible.     

An unusual case of Gitelman's syndrome with hypercalcemia

We reported a case of a 41-year-old woman who had been diagnosed with Gitelman's syndrome since the age of 31 years. The diagnosis was established by the typical biochemical pictures including renal wasting hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, hypocalciuria, metabolic alkalosis, and hyperreninemic hyperaldosteronism. She had normal blood pressure and had never used diuretics. She had a sibling with similar syndrome. The patient was treated with oral potassium and magnesium supplementation. She began to have hypercalcemia at the age of 39 years. The diagnostic approach to hypercalcemia became more complicated because of normal parathyroid hormone levels and underlying hypocalciuria due to Gitelman's syndrome. Thorough evaluation eventually identified primary hyperparathyroidism as the cause of hypercalcemia. To our best knowledge, this is the first report of combined occurrence of Gitelman's syndrome and primary hyperparathyroidism in the literature.     

High-level linguistic disturbances subsequent to childhood closed head injury

High-level language functioning was assessed in a group of 11 children with severe closed head injury (CHI). Performance was examined on measures of figurative language, oral expression, inferencing, and interpretation of ambiguous sentences, and was compared with that of a control group matched for age, gender, and handedness. The children with CHI demonstrated inferior performance on the oral expression, ambiguous sentences, and figurative language tests; however, performance on the inferencing task appeared intact. These findings are discussed with respect to the underlying nature of the observed impairments. Both linguistic and cognitive factors are considered. It is concluded that a complex interaction of cognitive and linguistic impairments experienced by children with CHI may underlie the performance deficits identified in the current study.     

An unusual case of nephrotic syndrome and glucosuria

We report a case of a 57-year-old man with hypertension and smoking history who presented with decreased glomerular filtration rate, nephrotic-range proteinuria, and persistent glucosuria. He underwent a kidney biopsy that showed nodular glomerulosclerosis. We discuss the clinicopathologic entities of idiopathic nodular glomerulosclerosis and primary renal glucosuria.