Isolated neuroparacoccidioidomycosis as a pseudotumoral lesion in the absence of systemic disease.

Background: Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a systemic, progressive, noncontagious, and often chronic disease caused by the fungus that rarely affects the central nervous system (CNS). The condition is usually treated using antifungal drugs, and some cases may require surgery.

Case Description: A 55-year-old man, a smoker, without known comorbidities, was referred to the neurosurgery team with a history of a single epileptic seizure a week before hospital admission followed by progressive right- sided hemiparesis.

Evaluation of prognostic factors of decompressive craniectomy in the treatment of severe traumatic brain injury.

Objective: to determine predictive factors for prognosis of decompressive craniectomy in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), describing epidemiological findings and the major complications of this procedure.

Methods: we conducted a retrospective study based on analysis of clinical and neurological outcome, using the extended Glasgow outcome in 56 consecutive patients diagnosed with severe TBI scale treated in the emergency department from February 2004 to July 2012. The variables assessed were age, mechanism of injury, presence of pupillary changes, Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score on admission, CT scan findings (volume, type and association of intracranial lesions, deviation from the midline structures and classification in the scale of Marshall and Rotterdam).