[Tortuosity of the internal carotid artery and its implications for the oropharyngeal and skull base surgery].

Conventional textbooks on anatomy emphasize the consistency in the pathway of the cervical internal carotid artery (ICA) from the carotid bifurcation to the skull base. Deviations in its route as result of developmental and acquired conditions have received little attention in the literature. A case of a tortuous cervical ICA presenting as pharyngeal pulsatile swelling is presented.

Facial palsy and achondroplasia: a rare association.

The association of facial palsy and achondroplasia is rare. The authors present two cases of such association. To their knowledge this has never been described before in the medical literature.

Treatment of a vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium ventricular drain infection with quinupristin/dalfopristin and review of the literature.

Central nervous system infections involving vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) are infrequently described and pose significant therapeutic difficulties, because these organisms are intrinsically resistant to many antibiotics. We describe the use of intrathecal quinupristin/dalfopristin to treat a VREF-associated infection in a neuro--surgical patient.

Localized pneumocephalus caused by Clostridium perfringens meningitis.

Clostridium meningitis is a rare complication of elective surgery, but the presence of pneumocephalus on CT in the absence of penetrating injuries, should raise the possibility of anaerobic infections. We report a case of fatal Clostridium perfringens meningitis which occurred 4 months after a craniotomy for glioblastoma multiforme. The diagnosis was suspected based on the CT findings.