First reported case of hydrocephalus in jointly diagnosed bacterial meningitis and a colloid cyst: how Ockham's razor became Hickam's dictum.

We report the first case in the literature of acute hydrocephalus due to a simultaneous diagnosis of bacterial (not asceptic) meningitis and a colloid cyst. Diagnosing disease is the cornerstone skill of a medical practitioner. Both education and experience allow for sharpening of this skill throughout years of medical practice.

The morbidity of out-of-hours surgery for Cauda Equina Syndrome.

Background: There is no literature specifically addressing the morbidity of out of hours surgery for Cauda Equina Syndrome (CES). Our paper rectifies this omission. This will assist the surgeon with real-time decision making with regards to timing of intervention in this rare but potentially disabling disease.

The glasgow lumbar spinal stenosis scale: an individualised measurement formula for the radiological assessment of lumbar spinal stenosis.

Background: Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a common and important spinal surgical problem. Currently there is no universally accepted quantitative approach to the radiological measurement of LSS. LSS can be described qualitatively with reference to facet and ligamentous hypertrophy, lack of perineural or intraforaminal fat, and reduced CSF around the cauda equina.

Alveolar soft part sarcoma: the new primary intracranial malignancy : A case report and review of the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to serve as a reference to aid in the management of this poorly understood intracranial malignancy. The authors report their experience treating the eighth ostensible case of a primary intracranial alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS). A 21-year-old man presented to hospital after collapsing.

The unique case of foot drop secondary to a large ovarian cyst.

We describe the unique case of a 58-year-old woman who presented with right leg radiculopathy caused by an ovarian cyst mimicking lumbar pathology. A review of the literature shows that this is a rare case where a histologically confirmed benign ovarian cystadenoma (of indeterminate type) is shown to cause foot drop and radiculopathy.