A 7-year-old boy with a history of VACTERL syndrome was found collapsed in bed. MRI had shown basilar invagination of the skull base and narrowing of the foramen magnum. Angulation, swelling and abnormal high signal at the cervicomedullary junction were felt to be secondary to compression of the medulla. Neuropathologic examination showed bilateral replacement of the medullary tegmentum by an irregularly circumscribed cellular lesion which was composed of elongated GFAP/S 100-positive cells with spindled nuclei and minimal atypia. The pathologic findings were interpreted as intramedullary schwannosis with mass effect. Schwannosis, is observed in traumatized spinal cords where its presence may represent attempted, albeit aberrant, repair by inwardly migrating Schwann cells ofperipheral origin. In our view the compressive effect of the basilar invagination on this boy's medulla was of sufficient magnitude to have caused tumoral medullary schwannosis with resultant intermittent respiratory compromise leading to reflex anoxic seizures.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.5414/npp28384 | DOI Listing |
Can J Anaesth
January 2025
Department of Anesthesiology, Pain Management, and Perioperative Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
bioRxiv
January 2025
Department of Cell Biology, Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, MI.
Congenital NAD deficiency disorder (CNDD) is a multisystem condition in which cardiac, renal, vertebral, and limb anomalies are most common, but anomalies in all organ systems have been identified. Patients with this condition have biallelic pathogenic variants involving genes in the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) synthesis pathway leading to decreased systemic NAD levels. CNDD anomalies mimic the clinical features described in vertebral-anal-cardiac-tracheoesophageal fistula-renal-limb (VACTERL) association raising the possibility that CNDD and VACTERL association possess similar underlying causes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: While the association of a syrinx with a tethered spinal cord in the context of VACTERL (vertebral defects [V], imperforate anus or anal atresia [A], cardiac malformations [C], tracheoesophageal defects [T] with or without esophageal atresia [E], renal anomalies [R], and limb defects [L]) association is known, the incidence of idiopathic syrinxes among these patients has not previously been reported. The authors aimed to characterize the incidence of syrinxes and the pattern of congenital anomalies in pediatric patients with VACTERL association, with a specific focus on the presence of idiopathic syrinxes in this population.
Methods: An institutional database was retrospectively queried for all pediatric patients with VACTERL association.
Cureus
December 2024
Family Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Alexandria, USA.
The VACTERL (vertebral defects, anal atresia, cardiac defects, tracheoesophageal fistula, renal anomalies, and limb abnormalities) association represents an enigmatic syndrome requiring further study. This report describes a full-term neonate born to a multiparous woman who was found, upon further examination, to have multiple congenital abnormalities, including a bicuspid aortic valve, patent foramen ovale, tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF), asymmetric crying facies, microphallus, and a single inguinal testis. The discussion explores environmental and genetic factors that may contribute to this association, as well as similar conditions, such as CHARGE (coloboma, heart defects, choanal atresia, growth retardation, genital abnormalities, and ear abnormalities) syndrome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChilds Nerv Syst
December 2024
NJ Craniofacial Center, Morristown, NJ, 07960, USA.
Background: Goldenhar syndrome is a clinically heterogeneous disorder defined by a rare combination of congenital anomalies-an eye abnormality, in addition to two of the following three: ear anomalies, mandibular malformations, and vertebral defects. Notably, children with Goldenhar syndrome present with a high incidence of cervical spine malformations.
Clinical Case: In this report, we present an unusual case of a 15-year-old child with Goldenhar syndrome, who additionally presents with some clinical features of VACTERL syndrome.
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