Daniel Dante Cardeal

Hydrocephalus in neurocysticercosis

IntroductionCysticercosis (CC) is the most important of the parasitic diseases of the central nervous system due to its high incidence in the world. CC is the infection with the larval cysts of Taenia solium. It is the most common helminthic infection of the nervous system and is endemic in most underdeveloped countries as well as in industrialized nations. It is estimated that approximately 50,000 people die every year from neurocysticercosis (NCC) worldwide.DiscussionHumans with CC are incidental intermediate hosts, which replace the pig in the life cycle of the T. solium. Children are more frequently affected by parenchyma infestation of cysticercus, of which the main clinical manifestation is epilepsy. Hydrocephalus is more common in adults and is caused by cerebrospinal fluid blockage by ventricular cysts and inflammatory reactions (ependimitis/arachnoiditis). Treatment should be individualized based on clinical presentation, degree of infestation, location and viability of cysticercus, and host response. Hydrocephalus can be controlled only by removal of obstructive intraventricular cysts or associated with either ventriculoperitoneal shunt or endoscopic third ventriculostomy. The degree of infestation and complications related to the shunt represents the most important prognostic factors in the outcome of NCC.

Idiopathic distal lenticulostriate artery aneurysm in a child

The authors describe a rare case of idiopathic distal lenticulostriate artery (LSA) aneurysm in a 5-year-old boy who presented in the emergency department with a sudden onset of headache. Admission computed tomography scans revealed an intracerebral hemorrhage in the left caudate nucleus with intraventricular extension. Angiographic studies demonstrated a left medial LSA aneurysm. The patient underwent a left parasagittal frontal craniotomy, the lateral ventricle was accessed via the anterior transcallosal approach, and the aneurysm was removed after sectioning of the parent vessel. The child left the hospital after 5 days; at that time he was asymptomatic and without motor impairment. The optimum treatment of aneurysms involving small perforating arteries is controversial and depends mainly on the causative factors. The pathogenesis and treatment of these unusual aneurysms are discussed.

Craniocerebral injuries from dog bites

Dr. Fernando Campos Gomes Pinto – Rua Bartira 1060 / 61 05009-000 São Paulo SP Brasil. E-mail: fernando.neuro@terra.com.br Dog bites are increasingly being recognized as posing a major public health problem. In the U.S., Weiss et al. reported a rate of 12.9 per 10,000 persons, for dog-bite related injuries resulting in a total of 333,687 visits to Emergency Departments. Children most commonly fall victim, where the head and neck are the most frequent sites of injury accounting for some 80% of such cases. To date, craniocerebral injury cases caused by dog bites have been little published in the medical literature. Two cases of penetrating head injury from dog bites are presented and discussed in the context of the current literature on clinical and radiological evaluation, and treatment.

Frontal-orbital advancement for the management of anterior plagiocephaly.

PurposesThe main purposes of this manuscript are to provide an overview of various modalities of surgical correction of anterior plagiocephaly and to emphasize their differences with the classic open frontal–orbital advancement.Methods and ResultsAdvancement of technology provides development of many other ways to achieve the same results. The authors describe the classic open frontal–orbital advancement and compare with other proposed techniques for correction of frontal plagiocephaly. The main limitation of the use of new forms of treatment of the anterior plagiocephaly is the age of the patient. There is still no consensus on criteria for quantitative evaluation of surgical results, and new forms of treatment do not present results with long follow-up.ConclusionFrontal–orbital advancement is the preferred procedure to correct unicoronal synostosis due to its universal indication regardless of the age and degree of deformation of the anterior plagiocephaly.

Major clinical features of synostotic occipital plagiocephaly: mechanisms of cranial deformations

PurposeThe clinical diagnosis of most common single-suture craniosynostosis is easily set, based on the stereotype of deformities and knowledge of the mechanisms of cranial deformations. However, synostosis of unilateral lambdoid suture, probably due to its lower incidence and similarity with other non-synostotic deformities affecting the posterior portion of the skull, makes its clinical diagnosis more difficult and imprecise. The aim of this study is to evaluate the most easily and accurate clinical characteristics to be recognized in the synostotic occipital plagiocephaly.MethodsThis study consisted of clinical evaluation of eight patients with synostotic occipital plagiocephaly, whose diagnosis was further corroborated by computed tomography.ResultsWe identified the following: unilateral occipital flattening in eight out of eight patients (100 %), bulging of ipsilateral mastoid process in eight out of eight (100 %), “edge effect” of ipsilateral lambdoid suture in eight out of eight (100 %), inferior deviation of the ear in eight out of eight (100 %), “Dumbo” ears in eight out of eight (100 %), horizontal slant of the bimastoid line in seven out of eight (87.5 %), tilt of the head viewed from behind in seven out of eight (87.5 %), trapezoidal contour of the skull in top view in six out of eight (75 %), contralateral parietal bossing in six out of eight (75 %), and bossing of the contralateral forehead three out of eight (37.5 %).ConclusionsThe most important clinical features specific to the clinical diagnosis of synostotic occipital plagiocephaly, not present in the positional posterior plagiocephaly, were bulging of the ipsilateral mastoid process, edge effect of the synostotic lambdoid suture, tilt of the head, and slant of the bimastoid line viewed from behind, inferior deviation of the ear, and contralateral parietal bossing.

Spontaneous disappearance of cerebral convexity arachnoid cyst

Resident of Neurosurgery – Hospital das Clinicas of Sao Paulo University Medical School, Sao Paulo SP, Brazil.Correspondence: Hamilton Matushita; Rua Barata Ribeiro 237 / cj. 43/44/46; 01308-000 Sao Paulo SP - Brasil; E-mail: matushita@uol.com.brConflict of interest: There is no conflict of interest to declare.Received 17 January 2012; Received in final form 27 January 2012; Accepted 3 February 2012

Reversible ventriculoperitoneal shunt dysfunction and chronic constipation: case report

Constipation can cause transient malfunction of the ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS). Patients with myelomeningocele or cerebral palsy are often diagnosed with hydrocephalus and constipation due to neurogenic bowel. These patients are more prone to VPS dysfunction, often requiring surgical revision. The authors report the case of a 6-year-old girl with a VPS that had been implanted due to hydrocephalus secondary to myelomeningocele. The patient was brought to the emergency department with intermittent headache, vomiting, constipation, and abdominal distension and pain. A CT scan revealed ventricular dilatation and radiography of the abdomen showed bowel loop distension. After a Fleet enema and digital maneuvers, her abdominal distension and symptoms improved. A CT scan obtained 24 hours later showed a reduction in ventricular size. The mechanism by which constipation can lead to VPS malfunction can be traced to indirect increases of intraabdominal pressure and direct obstruction of the catheter by distended intestinal loops. Treating constipation can restore the free circulation of the CSF and avoid surgical intervention. Careful neurological monitoring of these patients is essential, because some measures used to treat constipation can increase intracranial pressure. The objective of this report was to highlight constipation as a possible cause of transient VPS malfunction, thereby avoiding unnecessary surgical revisions, to which children with hydrocephalus are frequently submitted.

Temporal arachnoid cysts: are they congenital?

Case reportThe authors report two cases of arachnoid cysts (ACs) neither detected during pregnancy nor shortly after birth when newborns underwent CT scan evaluation after birth head trauma. ACs were diagnosed at 10 months and 6 years, respectively. The first one becomes symptomatic, and the other one was incidentally found during a head trauma investigation.DiscussionThese cases give support for the postnatal pathogenesis for some of the assumed congenital ACs. We collected data from the literature that supports the acquired hypothesis for ACs.