Computerized tomography-guided kryorhizotomy in 76 patients with lumbar facet joint syndrome.

Object: The authors prospectively evaluated the therapeutic effect of computerized tomography (CT)-guided kryorhizotomy in the treatment of patients with lumbar facet joint syndrome (LFJS) and assessed prognostic factors that predict this effect.

Methods: Between February 2001 and March 2004, CT-guided kryorhizotomy of facet joints was performed in 76 patients with LFJS. A diagnosis was established after three positive CT-guided medial nerve branch blocks.

Discrepancies between brain CT imaging and severely raised intracranial pressure proven by ventriculostomy in adults with pneumococcal meningitis.

Objectives: Computed tomography (CT) of the brain is recommended for assessment of intracranial pressure (ICP) of patients with acute bacterial meningitis who are comatose or show focal neurological deficits. The aim of this report is to draw attention to the possibility of a discrepancy between CT findings and ICP values in some patients with pneumococcal meningitis.

Methods: We describe three adult patients with pneumococcal meningitis who had both successive CT examinations and ICP measurements at the time of clinically evident cerebral herniation (n = 2) and/or prolonged coma (n = 2).