Benign extramedullary tumors in the foramen magnum region.

We present 16 cases of benign extramedullary tumors of the foramen magnum region who were operated on between the years 1984 and 1992. On admission, no case was neurologically intact and over 50% had had symptoms for more than 1 year. Nine patients had erroneous diagnoses initially.

Pathways to psychiatric care in Ankara.

This paper describes the pathways that patients take to reach psychiatric services in Ankara. A total of 582 patients were seen in a calendar month in seven centres, two of them being child psychiatric clinics. The pathway in Ankara, unlike may other centres in Europe, is dominated by direct referrals.

Alprazolam and exposure for panic disorder with agoraphobia. Attribution of improvement to medication predicts subsequent relapse.

Patients with panic disorder plus agoraphobia had 8 weeks of drug treatment (alprazolam or placebo) plus psychological treatment (exposure or relaxation). At the end of treatment at week 8, 40 patients who had become much/very much improved rated how much their gains were attributable to medication or to their own efforts. During the tapering-off to week 16, and treatment-free follow-up to week 43, patients who at week 8 had attributed their gains to medication and felt less confident in coping without tablets had more severe withdrawal symptoms and greater loss of gains than did patients who at week 8 had attributed their gains to their own efforts during treatment.

Relationship of panic, anticipatory anxiety, agoraphobia and global improvement in panic disorder with agoraphobia treated with alprazolam and exposure.

In a controlled trial of alprazolam and exposure in 154 patients with panic disorder with agoraphobia, relations between panic, anticipatory anxiety, and phobic avoidance were examined. The three symptoms were independent of one another at baseline and improved largely independently during treatment; only early improvement in avoidance predicted global improvement after treatment. Global improvement was more related to reduction of avoidance than a decrease in panics.

Unilocular orbital, cerebral and intraventricular hydatid cysts: CT diagnosis.

A 10-year-old girl with surgically proven unilocular hydatid cysts within the frontal horn of the right lateral ventricle, in the right orbit and another the left frontal region is reported. The intraventricular cyst was diagnosed on CT examination with intrathecal contrast medium injected via lumbar puncture.

Enterogenous cyst of the cervicomedullary junction. A case report.

Enterogenous cyst of the cervicomedullary junction extending from C2 level to the anterior aspect of the medulla oblongata was diagnosed in a 23-year-old male with a one month history of episodic tetraparesis and bilateral horizontal nystagmus. The cyst was removed subtotally except for a small portion at the point of the attachment to the anterior aspect of the medulla oblongata by a laminectomy of C1-C2 and a suboccipital craniectomy. Histopathological and immunohistochemical examinations revealed that the cyst originated exclusively from the endoderm.

Pneumocephalus at the cerebellopontine angle secondary to chronic otitis media.

Intracranial air is usually asymptomatic but carries a potential risk of increased intracranial pressure or meningitis which require immediate therapy. Although pneumocephalus is quite common following trauma, especially with a fracture involving paranasal sinuses it is a rare manifestation of chronic otitis media. In this report, a case with a tension pneumocephalus at the cerebellopontine angle following a chronic mastoid infection is presented and the possible mechanism, diagnostic measures and the surgical management is discussed.