BNCT for recurrent intracranial meningeal tumours - case reports

OBJECTIVES: The investigation was designed to explore the efficacy of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) as treatment for recurrent intracranial meningeal tumours. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three patients with meningeal tumours, recurring after initial surgery, radiation therapy and several reoperations, were evaluated for treatment with BNCT by determination of the accumulation of boronophenylalanine fructose (BPA-F) in tumour and in surrounding tissue. Two of these patients were subsequently treated by BNCT. RESULTS: The present results indicate that BNCT could be effective in prolonging time to recurrence, and thus in extending survival time, for patients with recurrent intracranial meningeal tumours. CONCLUSIONS: BNCT is potentially an effective radiation treatment modality for malignant intracranial meningeal tumours, which could increase progression-free survival, thus reducing the need for additional surgical interventions. Indications for BNCT would be even larger if recurrent grade II meningiomas could be treated, as indicated by the results of the boron uptake study.     

Crossed aphasia: description of a case

We describe a new case of crossed aphasia in a right-handed patient with a right hemispheric lesion. A right-handed man, 76 year-old, developed a sudden left hemiparesis with sensitive impairment and mutism. He has neither family history of left handeness or ambidexterity or vascular risk factors. CT cerebral scan showed a large infarct of the middle cerebral artery on the right side, with haemorrhagic suffusion. Cerebral MRI and EEG-cartography confirmed the indemnity of the left hemisphere. Aphasia studies confirmed a mutism with spared verbal comprehension, but alexia was present. A year later, left hemiparesis was recovered but aphasia remained. Crossed aphasia is rarely seen. It is caused by a right hemispheric lesion in right-handed subjects. Fluency is most commonly impaired. At onset, mutism is the common symptom, which evolves to expressive aphasia. Several hypothesis have been raised about the possible mechanisms involved. The few number of PET or SPECT studies performed in these patients have disclosed extensive areas of hypometabolism in the right hemisphere, that exceed the size of the image observed with CT scan or MRI.     

Primary intracranial choriocarcinoma: a case report

A 10-year-old girl had a primary choriocarcinoma of the posterior third ventricle. Craniotomy a few hours before death did not yield any tumor tissue. At autopsy, an extensively hemorrhagic tumor abutted the pineal gland. Immunostains were positive for beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-HCG) but were negative for alpha-fetoprotein and carcinoembryonic antigen. The presence of beta-HCG in serum or cerebrospinal fluid may be used as a diagnostic marker and monitor of therapy. HCG is, however, not a unique marker for trophoblastic neoplasms, as a significant number of intracranial germinomas contain cells that are beta-HCG positive. Because of the rarity of primary extragenital choriocarcinomas and the much more common occurrence of metastases of genital choriocarcinomas, it is doubtful whether any investigation less than detailed autopsy can prove the extragenital origin of the tumor.     

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension: a case report

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension is a rare syndrome of low cerebrospinal fluid pressure due to spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid leaks. The main feature is orthostatic headache. We describe a case of spontaneous intracranial hypotension in a 5-year-old girl with a 1-month history of headache, sudden onset hearing loss, and ataxia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed an enlargement of cervical venous plexus and lumbar puncture revealed a low opening pressure. Magnetic resonance myelography showed leakage of the contrast material at the level of the third and fourth lumbar vertebra. Bed rest and caffeine treatment yielded no resolution of symptoms. Following a lumbar epidural blood patch, her headache and ataxia resolved completely without any improvement in hearing. A second blood patch also yielded no effect on hearing. Spontaneous intracranial hypotension should be considered in the differential diagnosis of headache, also in the pediatric age group.     

Familial intracranial hypertension: a case report

We report the cases of a father and his daughter developing idiopathic intracranial hypertension within a few months' of each other.A second daughter is affected by uveitis, while a third daughter presented an episode of visual loss of unknown nature.

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Sommario Viene descritto il caso di padre e figlia con ipertensione intracranica idiopatica. Una seconda figlia è affetta da uveite, ed una terza ha presentato un episodio di calo visivo di causa non nota.

     

Depressive symptoms associated with hereditary Alzheimer's disease: a case description

The authors describe a family group studied by the Centro de Biología Molecular y Biotecnología, and the Clínica de la Memoria, las Demencias y el Envejecimiento (Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Colombia), and evaluate the association of depressive symptoms with Alzheimer's disease (AD). This family presented a hereditary pattern for AD characterized by an early onset of dementia symptoms, a long preclinical depressive course, and, once the first symptoms of dementia appeared, a rapid progression to severe cognitive function impairment. The authors found a high prevalence of depressive symptoms in this family and propose that the symptoms could be an important risk factor for developing AD in the presence of other risk factors such as the APOE E4 allele.     

Idiopathic recurrent transverse myelitis with syringomyelia: a case report

Idiopathic transverse myelitis is a monophasic demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) and its recurrence is a rare entity. Existence of syringomyelia in the spinal cord in inflammatory CNS disease is not usually encountered. This case study describes a 45-year-old man who was admitted with features of a cervical demyelinating disease. The history of the patient indicated that this could be a recurring attack. Cervical MRI and laboratory examination of the patient showed evidence of recurrent transverse myelitis. The patient was managed with medical therapy. The follow-up cervical MRI of the patient 2 years later indicated syringomyelia in the cervical cord.     

Bruns' syndrome: description of a case of neurocysticercosis with pathological study

Bruns' syndrome is characterized by sudden and strong headache, accompanied by vomiting, acuphenos and vertigo, triggered by abrupt movement of the head and can produce deep coma and death. This can be due to neurocysticercosis by cyst in the fourth ventricle, which contains the larval stage of Taenia solium. In the last years, new cases of this parasitosis are being seen in Spain because of the immigration from endemic areas, but the clinical forms of this infestation are not varied. We present a 44 year old man Ecuadorian who has clinical symptoms consistent with Bruns' syndrome secondary to cyst in the fourth ventricle that progressed badly despite undergoing surgery with ventriculoperitoneal shunt and treatment with albendazol. Finally, he was operated with the excision of the lesion by means of suboccipital craniectomy. We conclude that this syndrome must rule out a cystic or non-cystic, intraventricular lesion and that the appropriate manipulation of the cysticerotic ventricular cysts carries a more favourable prognosis.     

特发性颅内压增高与阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停一例分析

目的 通过报道及文献复习探讨特发性颅内压增高(IIH)与阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停(OSA)之间的关系.方法 报道1例中年男性颅内压增高患者,经MRI、血管造影排除颅内病变,确诊为IIH;患者有嗜睡、肥胖等症状,进行多导睡眠图(PSG)证实合并有重度OSA,在单纯使用降颅压治疗不能获得持续有效控制高颅压症状后,改用针对OSA给予控制体重和持续正压通气等综合治疗观察临床疗效.结果 经过3个月治疗,患者体质量指数由35.7降至31.4,呼吸暂停低通气指数由72.6降至10.1,血氧饱和度从67%上升到82%,头痛、视乳突水肿等高颅压症状得到持续改善.结论 睡眠呼吸暂停是IIH的风险因素之一,尤其是肥胖男性患者;对有睡眠症状的患者进行PSG监测有助于寻找IIH中容易被忽视的重要因素即OSA;采取积极措施治疗OSA能持续有效地缓解IIH患者高颅压症状.     

Relapsing polychondritis with an intracranial granuloma: a case report]

We report a case of relapsing polychondritis (RP) with an intracranial granuloma. A 67-year-old man developed progressive disorientation during the course of RP with left auricular chondritis and episcleritis. He had history of sinusitis and rupture of an aneurysm in middle cerebral artery. Laboratory examinations revealed high erythrocyte sedimentation rate and positive C-reactive protein. Head CT and MRI with contrast enhancement showed a mass adjacent to the falx cerebri and lesions in the frontal skull base. The mass was surrounded by extensive perifocal edema that spread mainly into the frontal white matter on both sides. Histologically, the mass displayed an inflammatory granuloma. By removal of the mass, edema decreased around the granuloma, and his disorientation improved markedly. Surgical findings revealed the granuloma was separated from sinusitis. There are a few reports on RP with an intracranial granuloma.     

复发性颅内动脉瘤的治疗探讨

目的 探讨复发性颅内动脉瘤的复发机制及治疗方法.方法 对我科1997～2004年间行动脉瘤夹闭术或血管内介入治疗后复发的18例动脉瘤患者(前循环动脉瘤13例,后循环动脉瘤5例1的临床表现、影像学资料进行综合分析,建立个体化治疗方案,其中15例患者行再次血管内介入治疗,4例宽颈动脉瘤辅以颅内支架,3例行手术夹闭.结果 15例行血管内介入治疗患者均栓塞良好.3例手术完全夹闭.术后1例死亡,2例偏瘫,15例恢复满意.结论 针对不同情况的复发性动脉瘤患者实施个体化治疗方案,分别进行手术夹闭、血管内介入或联合治疗可提高患者生存质量.     

Effectiveness of antifibrinolytic, edema-preventing and hypotensive agents in the prevention of recurrent bleeding from intracranial aneurysms

On the basis of a material of 561 patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysms treated at the Department of Neurosurgery, Institute of Neurology, Medical Academy in Cracow in the years 1971 to 1977 the authors discuss the effectiveness of conservative treatment for prevention of recurrent bleeding from these aneurysms. The whole group of 561 patients were divied into two subgroups: 361 patients (group A) receiving standard antifibrilytic treatment, drugs preventing oedema formation and reducing the arterial blood pressure, and 254 patients (group B) who were not given antifibrinolytic agents and the other pharmacological agents were given to them only sporadivally. Recurrent bleeding developed in 8.86% of cases of group A and 11.02% in group B. The difference was not significant.     

Management of recurrent intracranial hemangiopericytoma

Intracranial hemangiopericytoma (HPC) is an aggressive meningothelial neoplasm. A particularly challenging aspect of management of patients with HPC is optimizing treatment for recurrence, progression, and extracranial metastasis. Here we describe a modern cohort of patients with recurrent HPC to better understand treatment strategies that may improve outcome. Patients managed at UCSF for recurrent intracranial HPC were compiled into a single database based on a retrospective review of patient records, including operative, radiologic, and clinic reports. Cox regression was performed to determine factors that independently predicted treatment outcomes. At UCSF, 14 patients with available treatment and follow-up data were seen for management of HPC recurrence. Eight patients underwent repeat surgical resection, of whom four received adjuvant external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), one received additional Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKS), and one received brachytherapy. Radiosurgical intervention alone was utilized for recurrence in six patients, with four receiving GKS and two receiving CyberKnife. Nine patients suffered a second recurrence at a median time of 3.5 years following reintervention. Nine patients died following reintervention, with a median survival of 7.9 years following intervention for recurrence. In univariate analysis, factors associated with increased time to second recurrence included non-posterior fossa location (log rank, p < 0.05) and surgical resection with adjuvant EBRT (log rank, p < 0.05). The addition of adjuvant EBRT to surgical resection similarly extended overall survival compared to surgical resection alone (log rank, p < 0.05). GKS was associated with earlier second recurrence compared to surgically based strategies (log rank, p < 0.05). We conclude that when combined with surgical resection, EBRT appears promising in the extension of second recurrence-free survival and overall survival. This multimodality approach also appears to outperform GKS in extending time to second recurrence. Accordingly, when safe and feasible, surgical resection of recurrent HPC with adjuvant EBRT should be the first steps in management.