Alveolar echinococcosis of the brain in five patients.

Cerebral alveolar echinococcis is a biologically aggressive infestation that mimics a malignant neoplasm radiologically and macroscopically. This paper describes the clinical and radiological aspects of the disease, with new diagnostic studies, and discusses the surgical treatment of this infestation. The records of five patients with cerebral alveolar echinococcis treated at our center between 2000 and 2004 were reviewed.

A preliminary histopathological study of the effect of agmatine on diffuse brain injury in rats.

The present study evaluates the effects of agmatine on histopathological damage following traumatic injury using a clinically relevant model of diffuse brain injury. A total of 27 male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 200-225 g were anaesthetised and subjected to head trauma using Marmarou's impact-acceleration model. The rats were then separated into two main groups: one was treated with agmatine and the other with saline for up to 4 days immediately after head trauma.

Spinal intramedullary ependymal cyst and tethered cord in an adult. Case report.

Spinal intramedullary ependymal cysts are extremely rare. Fourteen cases have been reported in the literature, and only one was associated with another congenital lesion. The authors describe the case of a 33-year-old man in whom an intramedullary ependymal cyst and filar lipoma were present.