1/98. Epileptic falling spells after epidural haematoma in adult Down's syndrome.A 35-year-old man with Down's syndrome showed epileptic falling spells. He had suffered from a traumatic right-sided epidural haematoma 3 years before. It had been neurosurgically treated, but MRI taken 5 days later had revealed a small contracoup contusion at the left temporal lobe. His falling spell was a brief tonic seizure without disturbance of consciousness. Background activities of EEG consisted of slow alpha waves interspersed with sporadic theta waves and the amplitude at the left temporal area was lower than the opposite one. Interictal EEG showed sharp waves or sharp and slow wave complexes predominantly at the right temporo-centro-parietal area as well as diffuse, though predominantly at frontal areas, bursts of slow waves with high amplitude. The EEG suggested focal epileptic activities evolving into secondary generalization. SPECT of the brain showed the hypoperfusion at the left temporal area and at the right posterotemporo-parietal area, where the hypoperfusion was somewhat reduced after the improvement of seizures. seizures were well controlled with phenytoin combined with phenobarbital. The incidence of epilepsy in the Down's syndrome has been reported to increase after the middle age in association with the development of Alzheimer's neuropathology. When those people would sustain head injuries, it was necessary to follow carefully using SPECT and EEG.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/98. Abrupt exacerbation of acute subdural hematoma mimicking benign acute epidural hematoma on computed tomography--case report.A 75-year-old male was hit by a car, when riding a bicycle. The diagnosis of acute epidural hematoma was made based on computed tomography (CT) findings of lentiform hematoma in the left temporal region. On admission he had only moderate occipitalgia and amnesia of the accident, so conservative therapy was administered. Thirty-three hours later, he suddenly developed severe headache, vomiting, and anisocoria just after a positional change. CT revealed typical acute subdural hematoma (ASDH), which was confirmed by emergent decompressive craniectomy. He was vegetative postoperatively and died of pneumonia one month later. Emergent surgical exploration is recommended for this type of ASDH even if the symptoms are mild due to aged atrophic brain.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/98. Spontaneous epidural haematoma associated with radiation-induced malignant fibrous histiocytoma.We report a case of spontaneous epidural haemorrhage associated with metastatic radiation-induced malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the dural meninges in a patient who had been previously treated for nasopharyngeal carcinoma with radiotherapy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 408.52695771908keywords = haemorrhage (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/98. The shaking trauma in infants - kinetic chains.The findings in three children who died as a consequence of shaking and those in another child who survived are presented. In the three fatal cases, a combination of anatomical lesions were identified at autopsy which appear to indicate the sites where kinetic energy related to the shaking episodes had been applied thus enabling the sequence of events resulting in the fatal head injury to be elucidated. Such patterns of injuries involved the upper limb, the shoulder, the brachial nerve plexus and the muscles close to the scapula; hemorrhages were present at the insertions of the sternocleidomastoid muscles due to hyperextension trauma (the so-called periosteal sign) and in the transition zone between the cervical and thoracic spine and extradural hematomas. Characteristic lesions due to traction were also found in the legs. All three children with lethal shaking trauma died from a subdural hematoma only a few hours after the event. The surviving child had persistant hypoxic damage of the brain following on massive cerebral edema. All the children showed a discrepancy between the lack of identifiable external lesions and severe internal ones.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 13.005023767846keywords = cerebral, brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/98. Concomitant post-traumatic craniocervical junction epidural hematoma and pontomedullary junction infarction: clinical, neurophysiologic, and neuroradiologic features.STUDY DESIGN: A case report. OBJECTIVES: To report and discuss a case of post-traumatic epidural hematoma of the craniocervical junction with concomitant brain stem infarction. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Post-traumatic epidural hematoma of the cervical spine and brain stem post-traumatic infarction are very rare disorders. Post-traumatic epidural hematoma is usually located dorsally in the epidural space. methods: The clinical, neuroradiologic, and neurophysiologic findings in one patient with post-traumatic epidural hematoma located ventrally at the cervicomedullary junction and associated with medial infarction at the pontomedullary junction are reported. RESULTS: The main clinical finding in this patient was bilateral corticospinal and corticobulbar tract involvement. A magnetic resonance image showed displacement and flattening of the medulla oblongata and of the most cranial portion of cervical cord, which were caused by the epidural hematoma associated with an ischemic lesion of the pontomedullary junction. Results of central motor conduction studies indicated that the abnormality of the central motor pathways was localized at brain stem level, and that there was normal conduction from the cervicomedullary junction to spinal cord. CONCLUSION: This is the first reported case of spinal epidural hematoma located ventrally in the cervical spine at the cervicomedullary junction level and concomitant infarction at the pontomedullary junction resulting from whiplash injury.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 3keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/98. Recovery from Duret hemorrhage: a rare complication after craniotomy--case report.A 44-year-old female presented with Duret hemorrhage due to transtentorial herniation by extradural hematoma as a complication after craniotomy for treatment of spontaneous middle cranial fossa cerebrospinal fluid leakage through the oval window. Brain computed tomography revealed linear hemorrhage in the midbrain and the rostral pons. She awoke after 2 weeks in a coma, despite showing ocular bobbing and bilateral intranuclear ophthalmoplegia. She was discharged from the hospital with minimal neurological defects. Duret hemorrhage is usually fatal, but this case shows that early surgical decompression is the most important factor to avoid the worst sequelae.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/98. CT scans essential after posttraumatic loss of consciousness.The frequency of "talk and deteriorate" in the emergency department (ED), subsequent deterioration of patients with seemingly "mild" head injury at the time of presentation, is summarized. Among the 1,073 patients with minor head injury treated in the last 5 years, five patients (0.5%) deteriorated in the ED. All of the five patients had experienced transient loss of consciousness (LOC) before presentation. Deterioration had occurred during treatment of trivial associated injuries in four-fifths of the cases. Computed tomography (CT) scans revealed four acute epidural hematomas and one cerebellar contusion. Retrospectively, immediate brain CT shortly after their arrival may have revealed the presence of traumatic intracranial hematomas before deterioration. Although routine use of CT scans in patients with mild head injury has been controversial, the authors conclude that CT scans should be taken if patients have experienced transient LOC to prevent or reduce the occurrence of deterioration in ED.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/98. The importance of serial neurologic examination and repeat cranial tomography in acute evolving epidural hematoma.Computed tomography (CT) has revolutionized the diagnosis and management of head-injured patients, and its increasing availability has led to its liberal use. CT scanning provides excellent anatomic detail of the brain as fixed static images, but the dynamic nature of human physiology means that many injury patterns will evolve in time. We describe an 8-year-old child who had fallen 8 feet from a tree. He had a brief loss of consciousness but a normal neurologic evaluation on arrival to the emergency department (ED). He underwent expedited cranial CT scanning, which revealed no acute brain injury. Two and one half hours later, the patient had a mild depression in consciousness, prompting a second CT scan in the ED, which revealed an acute epidural hematoma. He had acute surgical evacuation of the hematoma and made a full neurologic recovery. This case illustrates that a single early CT examination may at times provide a false sense of security and underscores the importance of serial neurologic examinations.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/98. The injured coach.The patient in this case was diagnosed as having an epidural hematoma (shown in x-ray at right). This results from hemorrhage between the dura mater and the skull. The hemorrhage may result from a traumatic insult to the side of the head, which can fracture the temporal bone and lacerate the middle meningeal artery. Since the hemorrhage is arterial in nature, the patient may deteriorate quickly. These patients may present with what is referred to as a "lucid interval." The patient typically has a significant blow to the head that results in a short period of unconsciousness. They then regain consciousness at a time that frequently coincides with the arrival of EMS. Once conscious, they are in a period known as the lucid interval. They will still have a headache, but may otherwise be acting normally and show no other physical findings on examination. Many such patients refuse treatment and transport. [table: see text] Inside the skull, however, the problem will grow. Broken arterial vessels are bleeding, causing an expanding hematoma. The patient typically will soon complain of a severe headache along with other associated complaints, such as nausea/vomiting, then will lose consciousness again and/or have a seizure. Initial physical findings may include contralateral weakness and a decreased Glasgow coma score. As the hematoma expands, cerebral herniation may occur, compressing the third cranial nerve, which presents as a "blown pupil." EMS providers should have a high suspicion of injuries that affect the side of the head and the base of the skull. It is important to not only assess such injuries, but also the mechanism of injury, and to know the complications or later presentation that can arise from such injuries. Given that this patient was alert, oriented, not obviously intoxicated, and accompanied by his wife, the providers in this case would have had no choice but to abide by a refusal of treatment and transport. However, that could lead to serious complications, such as ongoing minor neurological deficits, later on. If this is the case, contacting medical control should be the priority.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 12.005023767846keywords = cerebral (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/98. Vertex epidural hematoma associated with traumatic arteriovenous fistula of the middle meningeal artery: a case report.BACKGROUND: Vertex epidural hematomas are rare. We describe the features of a vertex epidural hematoma associated with an arteriovenous fistula (AVF) of the meningeal artery created by a laceration of the dura mater underlying a linear skull fracture. Although AVF associated with convexity epidural hematomas has been reported, we know of no such previous report of vertex epidural hematomas. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 65-year-old woman presented with generalized headache following head injury. On hospital day 3, she developed a left hemiparesis. magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) disclosed a thick epidural hematoma at the vertex. cerebral angiography showed an AVF between the middle meningeal artery and a venous lake. On hospital day 4, the epidural hematoma was evacuated. CONCLUSION: Although coronal MRI was important for diagnosis of this vertex epidural hematomas, the case particularly illustrates the importance of cerebral angiography. The delayed onset of hemiparesis most likely reflected a continuing increase in hematoma volume because of bleeding from the lacerated meningeal artery.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 12.005023767846keywords = cerebral (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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