Open and minimally open lips schizencephaly.

Two patients with isolated schizencephaly, a very rare congenital anomaly of the brain, who presented with epilepsy are presented. According to imaging morphology, there are two types of schizencephaly, 'open lip' and 'minimally open lip'. These two cases emphasize that while MRI is superior to CT in the diagnosis of congenital brain anomalies, schizencephaly can be diagnosed by its characteristic CT features.

Profile of neurologic disorders associated with HIV/AIDS from Bangalore, south India (1989-96).

One hundred patients (95 males, 5 females, mean age at presentation 31.6 +/- 9.4 yr) with various neurological disorders associated with HIV infection during 1989-1996 were evaluated at NIMHANS, Bangalore.

Evaluation of posttraumatic vasospasm, hyperaemia, and autoregulation by transcranial colour-coded duplex sonography.

Serial transcranial colour-coded duplex sonography (TCCS) was performed on 24 adult patients with severe head injury (GCS 8 or less). Flow velocities were obtained from the middle cerebral artery (MCA) and extracranial internal carotid artery (EICA). An autoregulation study was done using the transient hyperaemic response test, evidence of vasospasm (V-MCA greater than 100 cm/s and Lindegaard ratio more than 3) was found in nine patients (37%).

Early onset cerebellar ataxia with retained tendon reflexes (EOCA) and olivopontocerebellar atrophy (OPCA): a computed tomographic study.

Computed tomographic (CT) studies in olivopontocerebellar atrophies (OPCA) and 'early onset cerebellar ataxia with retained tendon reflexes (EOCA)' are few and vary widely in methodology and criteria for cerebellar and brainstem atrophy. In this prospective study, CT scan observations on 26 patients (EOCA-11, OPCA-15) were compared with 31 controls using qualitative and quantitative assessment of cisterns, ventricles and atrophy of brain. Vermian and/or cerebellar hemispheric (predominantly anterior) atrophy was present in 80.

Cavernous-venous malformation of brain stem--report of a case and review of literature.

Background: Because of improved imaging techniques, the association of cavernous and venous malformations is now being seen more often in neurosurgical practice. However, only a few cases have been subjected to surgery. Surgical excision of the cavernous malformation, sparing the venous component, has been the method of choice advocated by most authors.

Palatal tremor, progressive multiple cranial nerve palsies, and cerebellar ataxia: a case report and review of literature of palatal tremors in neurodegenerative disease.

We describe a patient with an unusual clinical presentation of progressive multiple cranial nerve palsies, cerebellar ataxia, and palatal tremor (PT) resulting from an unknown etiology. Magnetic resonance imaging showed evidence of hypertrophy of the inferior olivary nuclei, brain stem atrophy, and marked cerebellar atrophy. This combination of progressive multiple cranial nerve palsies, cerebellar ataxia, and PT has never been reported in the literature.

CSF rhinorrhoea from unusual site : report of two cases.

CSF rhinorrhoea is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Bone and dural defects may result from trauma or enlarging 'pitholes' or breach in lateral recess of sphenoid sinus. Unless surgically corrected, they tend to cause meningitis and rhinorrhoea.

Posterior circulation abnormalities in moyamoya disease : a radiological study.

Moyamoya disease (MMD) is an uncommon entity outside Japan. Though the clinical and radiological features are well described, involvement of the posterior circulation has not been highlighted. Out of 10 patients of MMD studied, the posterior circulation was involved in 9 (3 bilateral, 6 unilateral).

Heterotopic ossification in non-traumatic myelopathies.

Heterotopic ossification (HO) is an important complication of spinal cord and brain injuries but is rarely reported among patients with non-traumatic myelopathies. In a prospective study on medical problems seven (6.04%) among the 114 subjects with non-traumatic myelopathies had heterotopic ossification.

Sparganosis of brain and spinal cord: unusual tapeworm infestation (report of two cases).

Among the diseases due to cerebral parasitism, those caused by sparganum mansoni, the larval form of Spirometra mansoni, are very rare. We report two cases, one involving the frontoparietal area in a 38-year-old male and presenting as a mass lesion and another in a 10-year-old girl, presenting with paraparesis due to mid-thoracic compressive mass lesion. Pathological examination of the resected lesion revealed the characteristic plerocercoid larva, spargana, enclosed in acute inflammatory exudate, resembling an abscess.

Neurocytoma/rhabdomyoma (myoneurocytoma) of the cerebellum.

An unusual case of cerebellar neurocytoma with rhabdomyomatous differentiation in a 6-year-old boy is reported. Immunocytochemical and ultrastructural features of the tumour were studied. Abortive synapse formation, the presence of clear vesicles and synaptophysin immunoreactivity of the tumour cells indicated its intermediate neuronal differentiation, while the presence of myoblasts and myotubes and immunolabelling by desmin confirmed the rhabdomyomatous differentiation.

Peripheral neuropathy in subacute sclerosing panencephalitis--immunohistochemical and ultrastructural evidence.

A patient with SSPE who had prominent diffuse white matter hypodensities on CT scan indicating central white matter demyelination and nerve conduction abnormalities suggestive of peripheral neuropathy is reported. Diagnosis was established by demonstration of elevated CSF measles antibody titers and presence of virus antigen and nucleocapsid in peripheral nerve. To our knowledge, this is the first report of demonstration of measles virus nucleocapsides and antigen in the peripheral nerve in SSPE.

Of insects and eggs: a case report.

A middle aged woman presented with delusions of infestation and multimodal hallucinations due to an underlying glioma of the corpus callosum. After surgery, the phenomena in question changed and finally disappeared. A recurrence of the tumour caused dementia.

Symptomatic vertebral haemangioma: endovascular treatment of 12 patients.

Vertebral haemangioma is a well known albeit infrequent cause for thoracic cord compression. While surgery is the treatment of choice in patients with neural compression syndromes, embolization of the feeding arterial pedicles is less frequently practiced. Twelve patients with vertebral haemangiomas and neural compression underwent particulate embolization of the feeder arteries.

Cerebral parenchymal calcification in a child with vein of galen malformation : role of medullary veins.

A child with vein of Galen malformation whose CT scan showed extensive parenchymal calcification on follow-up, is presented. The possible role of differential venous pressures and medullary veins in the pathogenesis of cerebral calcification in our patient is discussed.

Anomaly of arch of atlas--a rare cause of symptomatic canal stenosis in children.

Symptomatic canal stenosis at the level of atlas (C1) without atlantoaxial dislocation is thought to be very rare in children. Though common, anomalies of the arch of atlas are generally incidental findings in X-rays. High cord compression due to a narrow canal from a bifid posterior arch, or an absent posterior arch, is a very rare condition.

CT in simple partial seizures in children: a clinical and computed tomography study.

Introduction: Therapeutic relevance of computed tomography (CT) in children with simple partial seizures (SPS) is reported to be remarkably low (1-2%). There are not studies, however, from the developing countries where neuroinfections are among important causes of seizures. The present study from India is aimed at evaluating the significance of CT in the management of SPS in children and to determine the difference in clinical features of children with and without focal brain lesions in CT.

Co-existence of cerebral cysticercosis with Japanese encephalitis: a prognostic modulator.

In this study, we investigated the frequency of co-existence of cerebral cysticercosis (CC) in Japanese encephalitis (JE) cases with special emphasis on its role in predicting the final clinical outcome. Amongst the 163 confirmed cases of JE, 37.42% (61/163) had co-existent CC.

Experience with cerebellopontine angle epidermoids.

Objective: Cerebellopontine angle (CPA) epidermoids, although of benign nature, are of considerable neurosurgical interest because of their close proximity and adherence to the cranial nerves and the brain stem. We describe our experience and attempt to correlate the final outcomes with the extent of surgical removal.

Methods: Twenty-five consecutive patients with CPA epidermoids that were surgically treated were reviewed, and the final outcomes were assessed.

Characterization of cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) resistance in virus-resistant ecotypes of Arabidopsis.

Two Arabidopsis ecotypes are resistant to systemic infection by cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV), a plant para-retrovirus. Arabidopsis ecotype Enkheim-2 (En-2) is highly resistant to CaMV infection while Bla-14 is more weakly resistant. CaMV resistance in En-2 can be largely attributed to the action of a single semidominant gene called cauliflower mosaic virus resistance1 (CAR1), located at a locus on chromosome 1.

Gastric outlet obstruction caused by prepyloric web in a case of Down's syndrome.

The authors describe an infant with Down's syndrome who had a prepyloric web complicated by severe gastric outlet obstruction. The delay in diagnosis was responsible for malnutrition and the early postoperative complications of hypothermia and hypoglycemia. Awareness of the association of gastrointestinal abnormalities with Down's syndrome will enable appropriate evaluation for early diagnosis of this surgically correctable malformation.

Basal ganglionic angioleiomyoma.

A rare case of basal ganglionic angioleiomyoma in a 12-year-old girl is reported. She presented with features of raised intracranial tension, multifocal seizures, left hemidystonia and apraxia of eyelid closure. Cranial CT scan showed a large hypodense lesion with an enhancing mural nodule in the region of head of the caudate nucleus on the right side.

Sarcoidosis with primary neurological involvement.

Neurosarcoidosis is rare, accounting for less than 5 percent of all cases of sarcoidosis. We report a case of neurosarcoidosis presenting with neuropsychiatric features and meningitis, confirmed by meningeal biopsy. The difficulties encountered in establishing the diagnosis and treatment are highlighted.

Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament of the cervical spine in Asian Indians--a multiracial comparison.

Ossification of the Posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) has been thought to be a predominantly Japanese disease with few reports among the non-orientals and Caucasians. A prospective clinicoradiological study of 47 symptomatic Caucasoid Indians is reported. Twenty-seven patients presented with myelopathy, twelve with myeloradiculopathy and six with radiculopathy.