The course of the traumatising force in acceleration head injury: CT evidence.

Since brain damage in closed head injury of acceleration-deceleration type depends on the site of impact and on the course of the traumatising force, a reconstruction of these was attempted using CT. The study included 45 standard CT studies of adults with closed acceleration-deceleration head injuries. We selected 32 patients exclusively on the basis of CT findings of soft tissue contusion, skull fractures and cerebral contusions (coup and/or contrecoup, as well as other parenchymal lesions), while in the remaining 13 patients clinical findings were also used.

CT analysis of missile head injury.

Between August 1991 and December 1992, CT was performed on 154 patients who had suffered missile head injury during the war in the Republic of Croatia. In 54% CT was performed 1-24 h after injury, and in 27% follow-up CT was also obtained. The wounds were penetrating, tangential or perforating (45%, 34% and 21%, respectively).

DNA amplification by polymerase chain reaction from brain tissues embedded in paraffin.

A method which enables analysis of DNA from archival paraffin embedded normal and malignant brain tissue is described. The demonstration of a 317-bp long beta-actin DNA sequence by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to identify which fixation procedure, deparaffinization time and DNA extraction procedure would give the best results. Tissue specimens 1-39 years old were included in the experiments.

Mitochondrial cardiomyopathy and scapuloperoneal spinal muscular atrophy in a child.

A 14-year old boy was admitted for signs of heart failure and scapuloperoneal muscle weakness. He fulfilled the clinical, functional and diagnostic criteria for dilated cardiomyopathy. There was also a moderate increase in pulmonary vascular resistance.

Patterns of lesions of corpus callosum in inner cerebral trauma visualized by computed tomography.

Computed tomographic analysis of lesions of the corpus callosum in 13 patients with "inner cerebral trauma" showed significant congruence of linear translation of acceleration and the topographic distribution of such lesions. This congruence permits computed tomography to be used to reconstruct the course of linear translation and the site of the main blow, which can be important for forensic use. The findings of even a small lesion in the corpus callosum indicates the need for further investigation of other structures which are usually involved in inner cerebral trauma, such as the hippocampus and brain stem.

Correlative tissue pathology of intracranial neurinomas with computed tomography scans.

On computed tomography (CT) layers through the tumor the quality of picture depends upon the tumoral tissue structure, i.e., upon its histological appearance.

The occurrence of Rosenthal fibres in the brain tissue around meningioma.

A case of endotheliomatous type of meningioma arising from the falx and dura of the left anterior cranial fossa is reported. Numerous Rosenthal fibres were observed in the gliotic tissue around the meningioma. Authors present a brief data about the nature and occurrence of Rosenthal fibres.

Distribution of traumatic lesions of corpus callosum in "inner cerebral trauma".

This study deals with the topographic distribution of traumatic lesions in the corpus callosum within the pattern of "inner cerebral trauma". Material for neuropathological investigations consisted of 49 brains of patients who suffered closed head injury of the acceleration type with linear translation of acceleration acting along the longer axis of the head. As a control, 5 brains were investigated in which the direction of linear translation was latero-lateral.

Diagnostic possibilities of closed head injuries of acceleration type using computed tomography.

A group of 42 patients with closed head injuries of acceleration type is reported. All of them were treated at various departments of the General Hospital in Maribor. The aim of investigation was to find out the diagnostic possibilities of head and brain damages in closed head injuries of acceleration type by the method of computed tomography (CT) and making comparison with the clinical picture of each individual patient.

Steroid responsive familial neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies.

Autosomal dominant motor and sensory neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies was studied in three members of the same family. Only one of two monozygotic twin sisters was clinically affected. She developed unilateral peroneal palsy twenty minutes following local pressure.

Dysplastic granulo-molecular hypertrophy of the cerebellar cortex (L'hermitte-Duclos disease): report of three cases.

In this paper three cases with peculiar disease of the cerebellar cortex are presented. The disease is well known as L'hermitte-Duclos disease (LDD), but nowadays it is also called "dysplastic granulo-molecular hypertrophy of the cerebellar cortex" according to the modern theories of its etiology. Curious changes of the cerebellum in LDD are probably the result of a combination of delayed migration of Purkinje cells which occurs during the intrauterine period of cerebellar development, and of reactive hypertrophy of granular cells.

Medullomyoblastoma.

A case of medullomyoblastoma, arising in the cerebellar vermis of a five-year-old boy, is presented. The light and electron microscopic features of the tumor are described and compared to other published cases. Within typical medulloblastoma areas light microscopy revealed signs of neuroblastic differentiation thus indicating its neuroepithelial origin.

The influence of radiotherapy and chemotherapy on cerebral metastases.

A group of 110 patients (68 male and 42 female) with cerebral metastases, treated at the Institute of Clinical Oncology and Radiotherapy, Zagreb University School of Medicine, during the period 1978-1984, were included in the study. Most patients were aged 50-60 years. Out of 110 patients, 52 were treated by radiotherapy and 58 by radiotherapy plus chemotherapy.

[Primary brain sarcomas].

The authors report on 79 cases of primary brain sarcomas, correlating clinical and pathoanatomical data. In the material analyzed the group of gliosarcomas prevailed, while the smallest group were rhabdomyosarcomas. In some groups the topic predilection did not show any specific characteristics, except that there were more gliosarcomas occurring in the parietal lobe.

[Subacute encephalitis caused by herpes simplex virus].

The authors present a case of herpes-simplex encephalitis in a 58-year-old woman. The disease had a biphasic course and lasted 87 days. The clinical picture, laboratory data and the pathologic-anatomical changes of the disease are discussed.

Centronuclear myopathy with type I fibre hypotrophy and "fingerprint" inclusions associated with Marfan's syndrome.

The authors present results of histological and electron-microscopical investigations of muscular tissue obtained by biopsy from a 20-year-old man, who showed typical features of Marfan's syndrome associated with slowly progressive muscular weakness. The muscle showed a peculiar combination of centronuclear myopathy with hypotrophy of type I fibres and the so called "fingerprint myopathy". The combination of such myopathic phenomena with Marfan's syndrome presents a unique and hitherto undescribed condition.