[Surgical aspects as a solution to carotid occlusive pathology. Clinical case].

A significant clinical case presenting carotid occlusion pathology; successfully treated with the most recent surgical techniques is reported. The etiopathogenetic problem of this pathology which is of remarkable scientific interest in the medical literature is underlined.

Computed tomography study of pineal calcification in schizophrenia.

Computed tomography studies concerning pineal calcification (PC) in schizophrenia have been conducted mainly by one author who correlated this calcification with several aspects of the illness. On the basis of these findings the aim of the present study was to analyze size and incidence of pineal gland calcification by CT in schizophrenics and healthy controls, and to verify the relationship between pineal calcification and age, and the possible correlation with psychopathologic variables. Pineal calcification was measured on CT scans of 87 schizophrenics and 46 controls divided into seven age subgroups of five years each.

Choroid plexus calcification as a possible clue of serotonin implication in schizophrenia.

Choroid plexus calcification (CPC) was measured on computed tomography (CT) scans of 87 schizophrenics and 46 controls divided into age subgroups. We studied the relationship between presence and size of CPC and age in both groups, whilst in the schizophrenic group we also investigated the possible correlation between CPC size and age of onset and duration of illness, duration of formal education, psychopathological features of the illness as well as some neuroradiological brain measures. CPC size correlated with age in healthy controls but not in schizophrenics.

[Magnetic resonance study of lesions of the cervical spinal cord in multiple sclerosis].

Lesions consistent with demyelinating plaques were retrospectively identified in the cervical spinal cord of 15/49 patients (31%) with multiple sclerosis examined with cranial and cervical MR imaging. The lesions appeared as hyperintense areas on proton-density and T2-weighted images. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of spinal cord location of the demyelinating plaques were observed in 14 of the 15 patients presenting with spinal cord lesions at MR, and also in 11 of the 34 patients with negative MR findings.

Cardiac-gated phase MR imaging of aqueductal CSF flow.

The direction of CSF flow within the cerebral aqueduct was studied by cardiac-gated magnetic resonance (MR) phase images in five healthy volunteers and 10 patients with presumably normal cerebral CSF circulation. Caudal CSF flow was observed during systole and cranial flow during diastole. Using phantom based calibrations of the imager, aqueductal CSF velocities of 3-5 mm/s were calculated.

MR imaging in a case of Hallervorden-Spatz disease.

Magnetic resonance using a 0.5 T system and a T2-weighted spin-echo pulse sequence revealed symmetric areas of marked hypointensity of the globi pallidi in a case with a family history of and presenting with clinical features consistent with Hallervorden-Spatz disease. No such findings were seen in any of 16 normal volunteers of similar age.

Non-clinical tests for the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

Liquoral, Neurophysiological and Nuclear Imaging data were investigated in 29 patients suffering from Definite (11 cases), Probable (11 cases) and Possible (7 cases) Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The most sensitive tests were: Visual Evoked Potentials (VEPs), altered in 75% of patients, Motor Evoked Potentials (MEPs), abnormal in 75%, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in 72.4%.

Bilateral temporal lobectomy for late radionecrosis after radiotherapy for acromegaly. A case report.

A patient with right temporal radionecrosis was submitted to temporal lobectomy for acute intracranial hypertension developed two years after radiotherapy for a GH-secreting pituitary adenoma. Eight months later, a partial left temporal lobectomy was performed because of further radionecrosis. In both instances the cerebral radionecrosis had the clinical and radiological characteristics of a space-occupying lesion.

Benign extramedullary foramen magnum tumors: diagnosis by computed tomography.

This paper reports two cases of benign extramedullary tumors of the foramen magnum studied by computed tomography (CT). The first case was a neurinoma; the second was a meningioma. Several different CT findings allowed a correct preoperative diagnosis of the location and nature of the tumors.

[Use of coronal sections in computerized tomography].

The authors emphasize the use of coronal cut in CT in sellar and parasellar lesions; in tumors involving the tentorium; in differential diagnosis between meningiomas of falx and parasagittal ones and in those lesions with extension into paranasal sinus and face. The purpose of this method is to evaluate the exact relationship of these type of lesions with adjacent structures in a tridimensional view.