Autologous Cranioplasty with Bone Flap Preserved in Conventional Freezers: An Adequate Option in Low Resource Settings.

Background: Autologous cranioplasty has been used for decades and is the gold standard treatment in patients who underwent decompressive craniectomy (DC). One of the most common methods to store the cranial bone flap is cryopreservation at very low temperatures (-70 to -80°). The only way to achieve these low temperatures is by using special freezers which are not always available in all medical facilities, especially in low-resource centers.

Chondromas of the Lumbar Spine: A Systematic Review.

Study Design: Systematic review and illustrative case.

Objectives: Lumbar spinal chondromas (LSCs) are rare spine tumors. The characteristics of these intraspinal lesions are not well described in the literature.

Sarcoidosis of the Skull: A Systematic Review.

Background: Lesions of the skull make up a small but important part of neurosurgical practice. Several systemic disorders may involve the cranial vault including neoplastic and non-neoplastic conditions. Sarcoidosis of the skull is a little-known cause of calvarial involvement that has been rarely reported in the literature.

Spontaneous Extrusion of Ventriculopleural Shunt Catheter Associated with Pleural Effusion.

Background: Ventriculopleural (VPL) shunts are used infrequently in management of hydrocephalus. The main complication associated with these shunts is pleural effusion.

Case Description: A 28-year-old man with a history of congenital hydrocephalus had a VPL shunt inserted.

Orbito-cranial gunshot injury: the case of the missing entrance wound.

This paper presents the case of a 68 years old male who was admitted to the hospital after being attacked by another person. The main clinical signs were confusion and severe periorbital edema, findings of gunshot injury were not evident initially. However, a CT scan showed findings compatible with an orbito-cranial perforating gunshot injury.

Brain Stem Ischemic Stroke Associated with Anaphylaxis.

Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that may have different manifestations including hypotension. It is reported that vertebral artery hypoplasia (VAH) may be present in up to 20% of the general population. Previous studies have demonstrated that patients with VAH have a higher risk of developing an ischemic stroke in the area supplied by this hypoplastic artery.

Metachronous Bilateral Painless Foot Drop Secondary to Spinal Stenosis: Case Report.

Foot drop (FD) is an uncommon manifestation of nerve root compression secondary to lumbar degenerative disease (LDD). In most of these patients, FD is unilateral and is associated with low back pain and leg pain. A small number of cases have been described with bilateral FD, which is reported to occur simultaneously in a synchronous fashion.

Serotonin Syndrome Induced by Fentanyl in a Child: Case Report.

Serotonin syndrome (SS) is a potentially fatal condition associated with increased serotonergic activity in the central nervous system that can be attributed to certain drugs or interactions between drugs. There are some published articles reporting this syndrome caused by the combination of fentanyl and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors antidepressants in adult patients; however, there are no reports of SS associated to the use of fentanyl as a single causative agent. The author reports a case of a 7-year-old boy who was admitted to the emergency department with neurological deterioration secondary to an intracerebral hemorrhage.