Treatment of intracranial foreign body.

Craniospinal penetrating foreign body (FB) injuries are interesting, but rarely observed, cases. They are important in terms of the complications that they may cause. The etiologies of craniospinal penetrating injuries and intracranial FB are also different.

Spontaneous rapid resolution of acute epidural hematoma in childhood.

Acute epidural hematoma is a critical emergency all around the world, and its aggressive diagnosis and treatment are of vital importance. Emergent surgical evacuation of the hematoma is known as standard management; however, conservative procedures are also used for small ones. Spontaneous rapid resolution of these hematomas has also been reported in eight pediatric cases.

Study of the neuroprotective effect of ginseng on superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) levels in experimental diffuse head trauma.

Background: The purpose of our study was to investigate the effect of ginseng on antioxidant enzyme levels in brain damage following experimental diffuse head trauma in rats. The neuroprotective effect of ginseng was also studied.

Methods: In this study, rats were divided into four groups, and the rats in group 1 received no intervention.

A craniocervical teratoma with an encephalocele-like appearance.

Teratomas are rare congenital tumors. Teratomas frequently occur in adult ovaries, but can be located primarily in the sacrococcygeal zone and intracranial compartment in newborns. Teratomas are rare in the head and neck region.

Comparison of simultaneous shunting to delayed shunting in infants with myelomeningocele in terms of shunt infection rate.

Aim: Timing of shunt insertion in infants with myelomeningocele (MM) and hydrocephalus (HCP) has been debated. Many authors have suggested to perform the repair of MM and shunt insertion during same operation. However, there is also an opposite view.

Cervical spinal dysraphism.

Objective: Cervical spinal dysraphism is a rare congenital spinal pathology. The results obtained from our series are compared with the results obtained from other series of studies in the literature.

Methods: Seven patients with cervical myelomeningocele and meningocele who underwent surgery between January 1996 and March 2009 at the YYU Faculty of Medicine in the Department of Neurosurgery were retrospectively studied.

Prognostic factors in patients with occipital encephalocele.

Background: An encephalocele is a herniation of the brain and the meninges through a skull defect protruding towards the exterior. The condition is not rare when compared to spinal dysraphisms, but the worldwide incidence is not precisely known. The cases involving occipital encephaloceles which we have diagnosed in our clinic and the surgical approaches for this rare condition are presented herein.

Cavernous hemangioma presenting as a giant cervical mass: a case report.

Intramuscular hemangiomas of the head and neck are rare congenital vascular tumors and are sparsely reported. Hemangiomas account for approximately 7% of benign tumors and usually present as a mass that suddenly enlarges. Hemangiomas are mostly seen on the trunk and extremities, but can also appear on the head and neck region.

Penetrating spinal injury: reports of two cases.

Penetrating spinal cord injuries caused by stab wounds are rare. Such injuries may result from a direct lesion of the neural elements of the spinal cord, cord infarcts or, more rarely, intradural or epidural hematoma. In the present study, two cases with spinal cord and L4 root injuries caused by a knife are presented.

Skin perforators of back region: anatomical study and clinical applications.

Background: Despite widespread studies that have been commonly performed recently on skin perforators and perforator flaps of various regions of the body, investigations on the back region of the body are still insufficient. This study investigates the anatomical characteristics and clinical applications of perforating vessels in the back region.

Materials And Methods: The skin on the back region between the right and left, 7th to 11th thoracic vertebrae of 10 fresh cadavers were raised as flaps.

Protective effect of sildenafil (Viagra) in transient spinal cord ischemia.

Prospective study of the neuroprotective activity of sildenafil in a rat spinal ischemia model. The present study involved 21 male Sprague-Dawley rats. The animals were divided into 3 groups.

Investigation of neuroprotective effect of dexamethasone by using nitric oxide and leukocyte levels in experimental head trauma.

The objective of the present study was to determine the levels of nitric oxide (NO) and white blood cells (WBCs), which are assumed to play a role in secondary cerebral damage by increasing to pathological levels during cranial trauma, and to investigate the neuroprotective effect of dexamethasone on NO and WBC levels in experimental cranial trauma. For this purpose, adult Sprague-Dawley male rats were used. Blood NO and WBC levels were investigated in one group of non-trauma rats (control group, n = 10) after 6 h; in a group of rats with experimental post-cranial trauma (trauma group, n = 10) after 6 and 24 h; and in a third group of rats with experimental cranial trauma, intraperitoneally injected with 10 mg/kg dexamethasone after 1 and 12 h (trauma + dexamethasone group, n = 10), WBC and NO levels were measured after 6 and 24 h.

Activity of mannitol and hypertonic saline therapy on the oxidant and antioxidant system during the acute term after traumatic brain injury in the rats.

In this study, our objective is to investigate the effects of mannitol and 7.5% hypertonic saline (HS) therapy on the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in the early stages of experimental head traumas in rats. Rats included in the study were divided into four groups: Group I Control, Group II Trauma, Group III Mannitol, and Group IV 7.

Plasma vitamin E and selenium levels in rats with head trauma.

Background: Free radicals play an important role in brain damage induced by a head trauma. In this study, we examined the prevention of brain damage that occurs after oxidative stress in rats that had undergone an experimental head trauma and the determination of plasma levels of vitamin E and selenium, which are recognized as antioxidant agents.

Methods: In this study, adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were used.

Controversies in chronic subdural hematoma: continuous drainage versus one-time drainage.

Background: Various surgical methods are recommended for the therapy of chronic subdural hematoma (CSH). In this study, burr-hole continuous drainage (CD) and burr-hole one-time drainage (OTD) methods for the treatment of CSH are retrospectively compared.

Material/methods: Fifty patients with CSH referred to this clinic between July 1995 and December 2003 were selected for treatment.

Primary hydatid cyst of the brain during pregnancy.

A 26-year-old woman in the 28th week of pregnancy presented with a primary cerebral hydatid cyst manifesting as deteriorating consciousness and weakness in the left arm and leg. Cranial computed tomography revealed an intracranial hydatid cyst. The cyst was surgically removed and albendazole was administered.

Surgical treatment outcome of subdural empyema: A clinical study.

A retrospective study of 28 patients identified with subdural empyema (SE) at the Department of Neurosurgery between the years 1995 and 2005 was carried out. SE occurred in all patients following bacterial meningitis. The six most frequently encountered clinical features included: (1) fever in 22 (79%) patients; (2) disturbed consciousness in 16 (57%) patients; (3) papilledema in 11 (39%) patients; (4) hemiparesis in 4 (14%) patients; (5) meningismus or meningeal signs in 4 (14%) patients, and (6) seizures in 3 (11%) patients.

Trigeminal neuralgia caused by intracranial epidermoid tumor: report of a case and review of the different therapeutic modalities.

Trigeminal neuralgia (TGN) is characterized by recurrent paroxysms of unilateral facial pain that typically is severe, lancinating, and activated with cutaneous stimulation. Paroxysms typically last for 1 to 2 seconds. Etiology includes compression of the trigeminal nerve by vascular structures, tumors and multiple sclerosis plaques in the medulla spinalis.

Lipid peroxidation in patients with brain tumor.

Molecular and genetic signatures may predict brain tumor behavior and may soon guide tumor classification, diagnosis, and tumor-specific treatment strategies. Free oxygen radicals (FOR) are thought to take part in oncogenesis and cellular differentiation. This article explored the state of FORs and antioxidant system in patients with cerebral tumor.

Bilobed fasciocutaneous flap closure of large meningomyeloceles.

Background: Closure of large meningomyelocele defects presents a challenging problem. In this paper, the procedure and outcome of bilobed fasciocutaneous flap closure of large meningomyeloceles have been discussed.

Materials And Methods: Bilobed fasciocutaneous flap was used in 20 patients with large meningomyelocele defects, the largest of which was 77 cm2.

Spinal cord compression from spinal tuberculosis in a child.

Tuberculosis in children most frequently involves the pulmonary system. Spinal tuberculosis is very rare and insidious in children. We present a 1-year-old girl who was brought to our clinic with complaints of a bulge on her back and weakness in the feet.

Is external ventricular drainage useful in primary intraventricular hemorrhages?

Nontraumatic primary intraventricular hemorrhage (PIVH) is characterized by direct bleeding into the neuroventricular system. A very rare condition, PIVH accounts for 3% of all spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhages. Hypertension is a major cause of PIVH.

Surgical treatment of craniocervical decompression without Chiari malformation in syringomyelia.

We aimed to describe a patient without Chiari malformation who was treated via craniocervical decompression and by creating cisterna manga with an autologous fascia graft, and who displayed a clinical and radiological improvement in the post-operative period. Syringomyelia is a chronic and progressive disease with cavitation and gliosis in the spinal cord. It is more common in adulthood and often involves the cervical region.