Thermal imaging and dermoscopy for detecting inflammation in frontal fibrosing alopecia.

Background: Frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) is an inflammatory condition of the scalp, which leads to scarring and slowly progressive recession of frontotemporal and/or frontoparietal hairline. Choice of FFA treatment is highly dependent on accurate assessment of disease phase, as medical treatments are effective only during the initial inflammatory stage.

Methods: To objectively quantify the activity of the inflammatory process in FFA, 22 female patients were examined by both infrared thermography and optical dermoscopy before tissue sampling.

Vertebral hemangioma coincident with metastasis of colon adenocarcinoma.

The authors report on colon cancer metastasis to the L-3 vertebra, which had been previously found to be involved by an asymptomatic hemangioma. A 61-year-old female patient was admitted after onset of lumbar axial pain and weakness of the right quadriceps muscle. Her medical history included colon cancer that had been diagnosed 3 years earlier and was treated via a right hemicolectomy followed by chemotherapy.

Atypical dissemination of lung cancer to the adrenal gland and to the spleen.

Metastases of lung cancer to such organs as the liver, bones or to the central nervous system appear to be a frequent complication of this disease. At the same time, metastases to the adrenal gland are found less frequently. Metastases of lung cancer to the spleen are a great rarity and they are described sporadically.

Epidermal growth factor receptor gene expression in high grade gliomas.

Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene amplification and protein expression in malignant gliomas (anaplastic astrocytoma, AA and glioblastoma, GBL) were suggested to be correlated with the degree of malignancy. Large deletions within the EGFR gene occur frequently in glioma patients. The aim of our study was to analyse EGFR gene expression by real-time PCR by three different amplicons located across the gene and relate it to the age of patients and EGFR mutation status.

Rare primary tumours of the hypothalamus in adults: clinical course and surgical treatment.

Background And Purpose: The paper presents the operative technique and the results of treatment of adult patients with primary tumours of the hypothalamus, including rare ones. The aim of the study was to show the possibility of safe surgical treatment of rare tumours of the hypothalamus through a bifrontal basal interhemispheric trans-lamina terminalis approach.

Material And Methods: Five patients with tumours of the hypothalamus were operated on in the Neurosurgical Clinic in Sosnowiec between 1990 and 2008.

Primary pituitary lymphoma.

Primary CNS lymphoma (PCNSL) is now thought to constitute 3% of all intracranial neoplasms. PCNSL occurrence in the sella turcica region is an extremely rare finding. We present a 37-year-old male with primary pituitary lymphoma treated in our department.

Idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis - case report and literature review.

Idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis (IHPM) is a rare pathological state, with still unclear aetiopathogenesis. We present a case of a 63-year-old woman with cranial variety of that disease. The manifestations of the disease included headaches, paresis of VI, IX, X nerves and cerebellar ataxia.

Atypical features of dementia in a patient with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Background: This article describes a Polish patient (female, right-handed, age 68 at onset) diagnosed with the Heidenhain variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (HvCJD), characterized clinically by isolated visual disturbances with no ocular dysfunction prior to the development of myoclonus and other symptoms of CJD.

Case Report: Nothing in the history pointed to iatrogenic or acquired CJD, and genetic testing ruled out familial CJD. The neuroradiological picture (MRI) showed non-specific features of cerebral atrophy (cortical and subcortical).

Use of monoclonal anti-EGFR antibody in the radioimmunotherapy of malignant gliomas in the context of EGFR expression in grade III and IV tumors.

We investigated the putative benefits of simultaneous teleradiotherapy and anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) 125I monoclonal antibody (MAb) 425 radioimmunotherapy, when applied after neurosurgery in high-grade gliomas, over teleradiotherapy alone. In comparison to previous studies which have reported good results with this type of radioimmunotherapy, we advanced the adjuvant radioimmunotherapy step, that is, gave it during, not after, teleradiotherapy. The randomized prospective study examined two groups: simultaneous postoperative teleradiotherapy and radioimmunotherapy (TRT + RIT; eight patients) versus teleradiotherapy alone (TRT; 10 patients).

The cerebral form of toxocarosis in a seven-year-old patient.

Introduction: Toxocarosis is a consequence of human infection by Toxocara canis larvae. There are symptomatic (visceral, ocular) and asymptomatic courses of toxocarosis. The cerebral form is very rare.

Prevention of painful neuromas by oblique transection of peripheral nerves.

Object: Neuroma formation often occurs at the proximal stump of the transected nerve, complicating the healing process after gap injuries or nerve biopsies. Most such neuromas cause therapy-resistant neuropathic pain. The purpose of this study was to determine whether oblique transection of the proximal stump of the sciatic nerve can prevent neuroma formation.

Paraganglioma of the lumbar spinal canal -- case report.

We present the case of a 46-year-old female with a lumbar spine paraganglioma. The patient complained of a right-sided lumboischialgia. Preoperative MRI revealed an intradural tumour at the vertebra L3 level, located in the midline, 7 mm in diameter.

Chronic calcified subdural empyema occurring 46 years after surgery.

The authors present a case of a 47-year-old female in whom there was diagnosed a chronic calcified subdural empyema 46 years after the removal of an acute subdural empyema resulting from complications after otitis media. The patient had suffered from grand mal convulsions and partial epileptic seizures occurring 3-4 times a month. A large frontotemporoparietal craniotomy was carried out and the subdural empyema filled with numerous brownish-black, uncharacteristic tissue fragments together with the partially calcified and ossified capsule was removed.

[Surgical treatment of brainstem gliomas and other tumors in adults].

Background And Purpose: After the introduction of MR imaging to the diagnostics of brainstem tumors and after the introduction of microsurgical procedures to their treatment, the successful treatment, particularly of focal and exophytic forms of these tumors has begun all over the world. The objective of this paper is to establish indications for surgical treatment of gliomas and other tumors of brainstem, to determine surgical approaches and to establish the outcome.

Material And Methods: Within the last 6 years, 12 patients with focal and exophytic tumors of the brainstem in adults were operated on.

Cell proliferative activity estimated by histone H2B mRNA level correlates with cytogenetic damage induced by radiation in human glioblastoma cell lines.

We studied the relationship between proliferative activity and radiation-induced DNA damage in human malignant gliomas in vitro. Nine human glioblastoma established cell lines were gamma-irradiated (60Co) over a dose range of 0-10 Gy. H2B and H4 histone mRNA level was assessed with quantitative RT-PCR technique (TaqMan) and histone labeling index (HLI) with in situ hybridization to define proliferation rate, while cytochalasin-block micronucleus assay was performed to measure cytogenetic damage.

Non-neoplastic, degenerative brain pathologies and fibroses diagnosed on the basis of ultra-small samples obtained by stereotactic biopsy.

Brain biopsy and other stereotactic procedures have evolved over the last decades. Recently, the morbidity and mortality decreased radically along with an increase in the number of successful histopathological diagnoses. Therefore, applications of appropriate treatments in neoplastic brain pathologies are now possible, especially of those located in deep regions.

[An attempt to use Gore-Tex surgical membrane in lumbar disc surgery].

Background: Peridural fibrosis developing after lumbar discectomy may be responsible for as much as 20% of all Failed Back Surgery Syndrome. A variety of biological and non-biological materials have been used as a barrier to invasion of fibrous tissue into the vertebral canal.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) surgical membrane (Gore-Tex membrane) to inhibit peridural fibrosis and reduce FBSS symptoms after lumbar discectomy.

Stereotactic methods in interdisciplinary diagnosis and treatment of posterior fossa tumours.

For over 2 years, we have had access to latest generation apparatus and software for planning and stereotactic treatment as well as for x-rays treatment. Until now, we have carried out over 100 procedures. These included 52 stereotactic biopsies of neoplasms, some of them located within the structures of the posterior fossa.

Correlation of facial nerve paresis and histopathological type of vestibular schwannoma.

The objective of the study was to evaluate the dependence of facial nerve paresis, as a symptom of cerebellopontine angle tumour, on the histopathological subtype of vestibular schwannoma, diagnosed from a post-operative histopathological examination. We retrospectively analysed 91 surgically treated patients with vestibular schwannoma. We studied the histopathological subtype and the preoperative condition of the facial nerve.

Mutations in the von hippel-lindau tumour suppressor gene in central nervous system hemangioblastomas.

Central nervous system hemangioblastomas (cHAB) are rare tumours which most commonly arise in the cerebellum. Most tumours are sporadic, but as many as one third of cHABs occur in the course of the hereditary disorder - von Hippel-Lindau disease (VHL). In order to diagnose new VHL families in Poland we performed sequencing of the entire VHL gene in archival material (paraffin embedded hemangioblastoma tissues) in a large series of 203 unselected patients with cHAB.

[Pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma: clinical symptoms, treatment, outcome].

Pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA) is a very rare tumor of an astrocytic origin (prevalence rate: less than 1%). Four PXA cases studied by the authors are reported: one female and three male patients aged from 17 to 31 years. Seizure disorder was the initial presentation in all four cases--2 patients suffered from a single epileptic fit, while the other 2 patients had a long epileptic history of 6 and 25 years.

Pineal cysts in childhood.

Introduction: Little is known about the incidence and symptomatology of pineal cysts in children. Until now, the proper management of this group of patients has not been established.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the epidemiological and clinical features of pineal cysts in children and adolescents and to try to find guidelines for their management.

Histone mRNA in situ hybridization in assessing proliferative activity of normal and malignant cells.

Proliferative capacity is an important determinant of tumour biological behaviour. For research and diagnostic purposes, immunohistochemical techniques are usually applied in the assessment of tissue proliferative status. An interesting alternative for these studies is a detection of histone mRNA.