Ertugrul Cakir

The effects of tyrphostine Ag 556 on experimental spinal cord ischemia reperfusion injury.

BACKGROUND To investigate the effects of Tyrphostin Ag 556 on spinal cord ischemia reperfusion injury. METHODS The inhibition of tyrosine kinase may represent a novel approach in the treatment of spinal cord ischemia reperfusion injury. Recently, a family of tyrosine kinase inhibitors, the tyrphostins, has been successfully used in models of endotoxemia, peritonitis, and hypovolemic shock. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-four Wistar rats were used in the study. Rats were divided into 4 groups of 6 animals. The groups were named as sham operated group, injury group, vehicle group, and treatment group. Clamping of the abdominal aorta was performed for 45 minutes with all of the groups except sham-operated group. All of the rats were sacrificed 24 hours after the operation for biochemical and ultrastructural studies. RESULTS Tyrphostin Ag 556 treatment was found effective on experimental spinal cord ischemia reperfusion injury. The Malondialdehyde (MDA) values of the treatment group were statistically significant lower then the other reperfusion injury groups. The histologic examination showed better cellular structure in the treatment group than the other reperfusion injury groups. The neurologic scores of the treatment group also improved after treatment. CONCLUSIONS Tyrphostin Ag 556 alters spinal cord ischemia reperfusion injury by inhibiting protein kinases. Further investigations will be required to determine the long-term effects of this drug.

Clear cell meningioma: case report and literature review.

The clear cell meningioma is rare and a recently described histologic variant of meningioma. The most interesting aspect of clear cell meningioma is the high recurrence rate and agressiveness. Until now 17 intracranial clear cell meningioma cases had been reported in the English language literature. We present 2 new cases of clear cell meningioma which is discussed with the relevant literature.

Effects of citicoline on experimental spinal cord injury

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of citicoline on experimental spinal cord injury (SCI). BACKGROUND Citicoline has been successfully used in clinical studies of head injury and cerebral infarction, but there is limited literature regarding its use in experimental SCI. STUDY DESIGN Twenty adult Wistar rats were divided into four groups: sham, trauma, vehicle, and citicoline-treated. SCI was produced using a weight drop technique. Citicoline 300 mg/kg was given intraperitoneally, 5 minutes after the induction of trauma. The animals were sacrificed and 1 cm long samples of injured spinal cord were obtained at 48 hours post-SCI. Lipid peroxidation was estimated by the thiobarbituric acid test. Neurological examinations were performed using a previously described grading scale. RESULTS Measures of lipid peroxidation and motor scores of the citicoline-treated group were significantly lower than those in the other injury groups. CONCLUSIONS Citicoline attenuated lipid peroxidation after SCI and improved the motor scores. Further investigations will be required to determine the long-term effects of this drug on spinal cord injury.

Primary Ewing's sarcoma of the temporal bone with intracranial, extracranial and intraorbital extension. Case report.

Primary cranial Ewings sarcoma is a very rare malignant tumor. Primary temporal bone Ewings sarcoma with intraorbital extension is also a very rare condition.In this article we describe a case of primary Ewings sarcoma of the temporal bone which extended into intracranial, extracranial and intraorbital compartments; manifesting with a swelling in the zygomatic fossa and proptosis of the right eye. The tumor was excised partially, and the patient underwent radiochemotherapy. The patient died 6 months after the therapy, with lung metastasis.The case is discussed with the pertinent literature.

Epidermoid cyst of the brain stem. Case report

Brain stem epidermoid cysts are extremely rare lesions. Only nine cases have been reported. Management of the epidermoid cyst is decompression of cyst contents and removal of cyst capsule. But in some cases resection of the cyst may result in a poor outcome because of cyst wall adhesion into the brain stem.

Spontaneous thrombosis of vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation after ventriculoperitoneal shunting

Aneurysmal dilatation of the vein of Galen (AVG) is a common finding in vascular malformations that involve the Galenic system and spontaneous thrombosis is very rare. Although the presentation of the cases may differ with the age, the mortality and morbidity is high in all age groups. Here, we present a case of AVG in a six-month-old boy. The patient underwent insertion of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. Surveillance of the lesion with subsequent MRI revealed spontaneous thrombosis of the AVG with excellent clinical outcome. Proposed mechanisms of spontaneous thrombosis include slow flow shunts, obstruction of the venous outflow or obstruction of the feeding artery. The case is discussed with the relevant literature.

Solitary plasmacytoma with intracranial intraorbital and, paranasal sinus extension

Intracranial solitary plasmacytomas (ICSPs) are extremely rare tumours in neurosurgical practice, and are often misdiagnosed preoperatively. Here we present a solitary intracranial plasmacytoma with orbital, nasal and paranasal sinus extension. A subtotal excision of the tumour was performed and the complete response was seen after postoperative radio-chemotherapy. The neuroradiological and neurosurgical features of the case are discussed with the pertinent literature.

Ruptured chronic encapsulated intracerebral hematoma in infancy: review of the literature with a case report

ObjectivesWe report a case of a 2-month-old boy with chronic encapsulated intracerebral hematoma (EICH) and discuss clinical, radiological and pathological features of the case.ConclusionsChronic EICH in infants is extremely rare in the literature. Only two cases have been previously reported. One of the cases reported in the literature was supratentorial and the other was infratentorial.

Intracavernous carotid artery aneurysms.

Six patients with intracavernous carotid artery aneurysms (ICCAAns) were seen at our department from 1998 to 2002. All patients had only one intracranial aneurysm and their ages at diagnosis ranged from 36 to 72 years (median 56). Five were women and four had a history of hypertension. One patient was pregnant. All of the ICCAAns were symptomatic at diagnosis. Duration of symptoms was 2-30 days. On admission to our department, initial symptom was headache in four patients, visual loss in two, eye pain in one, third nerve paresis in two and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in one. Spontaneous thrombosis was present in two patients. All of the ICCAAns were saccular. Computed tomography (CT) was superior when compared with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for diagnosis of ICCAAns on admission. Angiography remains the gold standard for diagnosis and determination of specific anatomical details, which are necessary to plan treatment.

Meningitis and pneuomocephalus. A rare complication of external dacryocystorhinostomy

Meningitis due to fracture of the fovea ethmoidalis during external dacryocystorhinostomy is a rare complication. We report a case of pneumocephalus and meningitis in a 51-year-old female who underwent an external dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR). Although extracranial complications during or after external DCR have been well-described, only one case of meningitis has been reported in the literature. Physical examination, computerised tomography, lumbar puncture, and bacteriologic cultures were used to make the diagnosis. The patient responded well to antibiotic therapy. Her symptoms resolved immediately and she was discharged on the 21st post-operative day. This complication emphasises the importance of careful surgical technique and a thorough knowledge of regional anatomy, during DCR and similar procedures.