Leptomeningeal metastasis from solid tumors: a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge.

Leptomeningeal metastasis (LM) is a severe complication in the natural history of malignancies that occurs in 4-15 % of patients (pts) with solid tumors. Clinical presentation, cerebrospinal fluid cytology (CSF), and gadolinium magnetic resonance imaging (gdMRI) of the brain and spine are the methods routinely used to diagnose LM. Treatment encompasses involved-field radiotherapy of bulky or symptomatic disease sites and chemotherapy; however, no standard therapy has been established yet.

Intravascular lymphomatosis and intracerebral haemorrhage.

Intravascular lymphomatosis (IVL) is a rare, malignant B- or T-cell lymphoma with remarkable affinity for the endothelial cells of small vessels, particularly within the skin and central nervous system. It is a disease that mimics several neurological disorders, particularly those of cerebrovascular ischemic origin. The prognosis is generally poor, with a rapidly fatal outcome.

Intrathecal liposomal cytarabine in combination with temozolomide in low-grade oligoastrocytoma with leptomeningeal dissemination.

Leptomeningeal dissemination of low-grade gliomas is an uncommon event. A 43-year old male presented with dizziness, gait ataxia, and diplopia. A nonenhancing lesion in the right cerebellar peduncle was identified, subtotally resected, and diagnosed as a grade II astrocytoma.

Late-onset choreoathetotic syndrome following heart surgery.

Choreoathetotic syndromes are frequently observed in children after congenital cardiopathy surgery. To report the case of an adult patient who developed a choreoathetotic syndrome after cardiac operation, probably related to a transitory hypometabolism of basal ganglia. A 52-year-old patient underwent heart surgery under circulatory arrest and deep hypothermia, for type III dissecting thoracic aorta aneurysm.

Dose-intensity temozolomide after concurrent chemoradiotherapy in operated high-grade gliomas.

Purpose: We performed a new phase II trial enrolling patients with newly diagnosed high-grade glioma (HGG) to test the efficacy of a weekly alternating temozolomide (TMZ) schedule after surgery and concomitant chemoradiotherapy.

Methods: From January 2005 to January 2007, 34 patients (21 men, 13 women; age range 30-70, mean age 53) were enrolled. There were 32 glioblastoma multiforme and two anaplastic astrocytoma.

Diagnostic value of PRND gene expression profiles in astrocytomas: relationship to tumor grades of malignancy.

Doppel (PRND) is a paralogue of the mammalian prion (PRNP) gene. It is abundant in testis and, unlike PRNP, it is expressed at low levels in the adult central nervous system (CNS). Besides, doppel overexpression correlates with some prion-disease pathological features, such as ataxia and death of cerebellar neurons.

Dystonia in a patient with deletion of 18p.

18p- syndrome from chromosomal deletion of the short arm of chromosome 18 shows a wide range of clinical manifestations. Mental retardation is the most frequent neurological complication; other neurological deficits are more rarely reported. Only one 18p- patient with focal dystonia at the lower limbs has been reported, while there have been no reported cases of generalized dystonia.

Familial cavernous hemangioma with atypical neuroimaging.

Three members of the same family were studied, all of whom had multiple intracerebral cavernous angiomas for which a dominant autosomal inheritance was hypothesised. The proband suffered from headaches, and physical examination revealed evident right hemiparesis. The second case started with a hemorrhagic cerebral stroke and the third was asymptomatic on neurological examination.

Cytoskeletal changes in cultured human fibroblasts following exposure to 2,5-hexanedione.

In the present study, the effects of the 2,5-hexanedione (HD) on the various cytoskeletal components of human eukaryotic cells were investigated. Primary cultures of human fibroblasts from three healthy donors were exposed to 2.8 mM HD for 14 days; unexposed cultures were used as controls.

Brain metastases from post-radiation malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour.

A 45-year-old female patient developed a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour (MPNST) arising from the left brachial plexus, ten years after regional radiation treatment for Hodgkin's disease. The clinical course was characterized by local recurrence, pulmonary and cerebral metastases with endocranic hypertension syndrome, and the death of the patient 18 months after the onset of symptoms. The tumour presented a histopathological picture of schwannoma with a high grade of malignancy.

Cytoskeletal changes induced by 2,5-hexanedione on developing human neurons in vitro.

Dissociated dorsal root ganglion cells from human fetuses were exposed to 2,5-hexanedione (2,5-HD) for 2 weeks. Morphological changes induced by 2,5-HD consisted in focal neurofilament (NF)-containing enlargements preferentially located in distal, preterminal regions of unmyelinated fibers. Tangles of NF were also observed in the perikarya of nerve cells.