Calcified cerebral emboli: Incidence and implications.

Introduction: Calcified cerebral emboli are an increasingly recognized cause of ischaemic stroke, although recognition amongst general radiologists and clinicians can be limited. Recent literature suggests that calcified cerebral emboli are likely more common than originally thought. This study aims to define the prevalence of calcified cerebral emboli as the most likely aetiology within a cohort of confirmed cases of acute stroke, as well as compare and contrast these cases with cases of 'incidental' intracranial calcification.

Stroke or encephalitis?

Viral encephalitis is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, particularly when appropriate management is omitted as a result of delayed diagnosis. A case of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) encephalitis is presented, demonstrating that the presentation of confusion, speech difficulties and fever with non-specific early brain CT appearances can easily be misdiagnosed as pneumonia with stroke. This case highlights the need for increased awareness of HSV-1 encephalitis among emergency physicians and radiologists, given that the early spectrum of clinical and CT findings can mimic the more common diagnoses of sepsis and stroke.

Radiologic and clinical spectrum of occipital condyle fractures: retrospective review of 107 consecutive fractures in 95 patients.

Objective: We proposed to characterize the radiologic spectrum of occipital condyle fractures in a large series of patients and to correlate fracture pathology with neurosurgical treatment and patient outcome.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of the findings on conventional radiography, CT, and MR imaging in 95 patients with 107 occipital condyle fractures. We described fracture patterns according to two previously published classification systems.

Emergency endovascular stent-graft repair for thoracic aortic injury.

We report a case of emergency endovascular stent-graft repair of a traumatic false aneurysm of the thoracic aorta. Thoracotomy was relatively contraindicated because the patient also sustained incomplete spinal injury, He recovered fully from both chest and spinal injuries, and remains without evidence of complications related to the stent-graft 18 months after the injury.