1/111. anesthesia for cesarean section in two patients with brain tumours.PURPOSE: To describe two patients with brain tumours where general anesthesia was used for cesarean sections under emergency and urgent conditions. CLINICAL FEATURES (CASE #1): The first patient presented at 38 wk gestation with an acute intracranial tumour herniation, requiring emergency craniotomy and simultaneous cesarean section. General anesthesia was induced with thiopental and vecuronium, maintained with enflurane 1% in O2 100%. Maternal P(ET)CO2 was maintained at 25 mmHg. After delivering a healthy infant, she was given syntocinon, mannitol and dexamethasone i.v. anesthesia was maintained with fentanyl, nitrous oxide 50% in O2 and isoflurane 1% during frontal-lobe tumour resection. CLINICAL FEATURES (CASE #2): The second patient presented at 37 wk gestation for urgent cesarean section because of placental insufficiency. She had had a brain tumour resection four years earlier. An increase in intracranial pressure necessitated craniotomy for decompression at 20 wk gestation. She was further treated with dexamethasone, carbamazepine and radiation for control of cerebral oedema at 34 wk. cesarean section was performed under general anesthesia; rapid-sequence-induction with thiopental and succinylcholine, followed by isoflurane 1% in O2 100%. Syntocinon, fentanyl and atracurium i.v. were administered after delivery of a healthy infant. Although neurosurgeons stood by, their intervention was unnecessary. CONCLUSION: General anesthesia remains safe and dependable for operative delivery in parturients with intracranial tumour. Tracheal intubation allows maternal hyperventilation thereby controlling raised intracranial pressure. Hemodynamic stability is readily achieved to maintain cerebral perfusion. However, a multidisciplinary-team approach is critical for successful patient management.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = cerebral, brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/111. brain metastasis as first manifestation of ovarian cancer.brain metastasis from ovarian cancer, a rare and highly dismal event, develops mostly during or after postoperative chemotherapy. This report documents the clinical findings and magnetic resonance imaging of an uncommon case who presented signs of increased intracranial pressure as a first manifestation. Histologic examination of removed brain lesion demonstrated ovarian origin, while no evidence of a locally invasive lesion was found at exploratory laparotomy ('tentative' surgical stage Ia). The possibility of ovarian origin should be always considered in a woman with brain involvement.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.027427764394671keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/111. Endovascular recanalization with balloon angioplasty and stenting of an occluded occipital sinus for treatment of intracranial venous hypertension: technical case report.OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: Dural sinus thrombosis can lead to intracranial venous hypertension and can be complicated by intracranial hemorrhage. We present a case report of a patient who underwent endovascular recanalization and stenting of a thrombosed occipital sinus. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 13-year-old patient with a history of chronic sinus thrombosis refractory to anticoagulant therapy presented with acute onset of aphasia and hemiparesis. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed hydrocephalus and cerebral edema. Angiography delineated multiple dural arteriovenous fistulae and persistent occlusion of the posterior sagittal, occipital, and bilateral transverse dural sinuses with retrograde cortical venous drainage. INTERVENTION: After embolization of the dural arteriovenous fistulae, a transvenous approach was used to recanalize and perform balloon angioplasty of the right internal jugular vein and the occipital and left transverse sinuses, resulting in subsequent clinical improvement. The patient's condition deteriorated 3 days later with reocclusion of both balloon-dilated sinuses. Repeat angioplasty and then deployment of an endovascular stent in the occipital sinus were performed, and reestablishment of venous outflow was achieved, resulting in a decrease of intracranial venous pressure from 41 to 14 mm Hg and neurological improvement. At the 3-month follow-up examination, the stented occipital sinus remained patent and served as the only conduit for extracranial venous outflow; the patient remained neurologically intact at the 12-month follow-up examination. CONCLUSION: This is the first report of mechanical recanalization, balloon angioplasty, and stent deployment in the occipital sinus to provide sustained venous outflow for the treatment of venous hypertension with retrograde cortical venous drainage in a patient with dural pansinus thrombosis refractory to anticoagulant therapy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.45885835340799keywords = cerebral (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/111. A case of neurocysticercosis-differential diagnostic aspects.neurocysticercosis is no medical rarity but in non-endemic countries especially, a high degree of physician awareness is necessary for diagnosis. The case of a German female patient who had focal seizures for the first time at the age of 23 caused by a cerebral cyst of cysticercus cellulosae is presented. Only surgical removal and subsequent histological examination allowed diagnosis while diagnostic investigation yielded no pathological findings.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.45885835340799keywords = cerebral (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/111. Acquired dural fistulae in benign intracranial hypertension: a short case report.Venous sinus thrombosis has been regarded as a known cause of intracranial hypertension. We report a case of long-standing raised intracranial hypertension (ICT) that presented with deteriorating vision in both eyes. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the brain and cerebral angiography showed blockage of superior saggital sinus and sigmoid sinuses with bilateral dural arteriovenous fistulae (DAVF) formation.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.47257223560533keywords = cerebral, brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/111. blindness from bad bones.Progressive visual loss is the most common neurologic finding in osteopetrosis. Several mechanisms may explain this phenomenon, including compression of the optic nerves caused by bony overgrowth of the optic canals and retinal degeneration. We report a child with osteopetrosis and progressive visual loss, even though patent optic canals were demonstrated by computed tomography and digital holography. This patient's visual loss was caused by increased intracranial pressure secondary, to obstruction of cerebral venous outflow at the jugular foramen. This case points to the importance of a full evaluation of the skull base foramina in the diagnostic workup of visual loss in patients with osteopetrosis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.45885835340799keywords = cerebral (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/111. Correlation between jugular bulb oxygen saturation and partial pressure of brain tissue oxygen during CO2 and O2 reactivity tests in severely head-injured patients.PURPOSE: To correlate the jugular bulb oxygen saturation (SjvO2) and brain tissue oxygen pressure (PbtO2) during carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2) reactivity tests in severely head-injured patients. methods AND RESULTS: In nine patients (7 men, 2 women, age: 26 /- 6.5 years, GCS of 6.5 /- 2.9), a polarographic microcatheter (Clark-type) was inserted into nonlesioned white matter (frontal lobe). PbtO2 and SjvO2 were monitored simultaneously and cerebral vasoreactivity to CO2 and O2 was tested on days three, five and seven after injury. Simultaneous measurements of vasoreactivity by transcranial Doppler (TCD) were undertaken. A total of twenty-one CO2 and O2 reactivity tests were performed. Critical values of PbtO2 (< 15 mm Hg) during induced hyperventilation could be observed four times in two patients. High PbtO2 values up to 80 mm Hg were observed during hyperoxygenation (FiO2 100%). CO2 vasoreactivity by means of PbtO2 was absent in four tests in which measurements by TCD showed intact responses. A stronger correlation between SjvO2 and PbtO2 during the O2 reactivity tests was observed (r = 0.6, p < 0.001), in comparison to values obtained during the CO2 reactivity tests (r = 0.33, p < 0.001). In addition, there was no statistically significant correlation (r = 0.22, p = 0.26) between CO2 reactivity values measured by TCD (4.5 /- 5.7%) and PbtO2 (3 /- 2.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Correlation between SjvO2 and PbtO2 during CO2 reactivity test is low, even if significant differences between normo- and hyperventilation values are present. In comparison to SjvO2, monitoring of PbtO2 might more accurately detect possible focal ischaemic events during rapidly induced hyperventilation in severely head-injured patients. The CO2 vasoreactivity by means of changes in Vm MCA seems to be higher in comparison to changes of PbtO2. These observations lead to the hypothesis that vasoreactivity measured by TCD overestimates the cerebrovascular response to CO2.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.52742776439467keywords = cerebral, brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/111. Fatal secondary increase in serum S-100B protein after severe head injury. Report of three cases.The S-100B protein is a small cytosolic protein that is found in astroglial or schwann cells. It is highly specific for brain tissue and is increasingly being investigated as a diagnostic tool to assess the neurological damage after head injury, stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and cardiopulmonary bypass. The authors report on three patients with severe head injury with otherwise normal cerebral perfusion pressure, SaO2, PaCO2, and controlled intracranial pressure (ICP), in whom a secondary excessive increase in serum S-100B was observed. In all cases, the S-100B increase was followed by an increase in ICP. All three patients died within 72 hours after the excessive increase in S-100B. These findings indicate that major secondary brain damage may occur at a cellular level without being identified by current neuromonitoring techniques.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.48628611780266keywords = cerebral, brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/111. subarachnoid hemorrhage following permissive hypercapnia in a patient with severe acute asthma.In this article, we describe a case of a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in an acute severe asthma patient following mechanical hypoventilation. A 49-year-old man was admitted to an intensive care Unit with an acute exacerbation of asthma. After 3 days of mechanical ventilation (hypercapnia and normoxaemia), it was noted that his right pupil was fixed, dilated, and unreactive to light. Computed tomography (CT) scan showed localized SAH within the basilar cisterns and diffuse cerebral swelling. On the fourth day, a new CT scan showed hemorrhage resorption and a cerebral swelling decrease. In the following days, the patient's condition continued improving with no detectable neurological deficits. A review of similar published reports showed that all patients performed respiratory acidosis, normoxaemia, and hypercapnia. The most frequent neurological sign was mydriasis, and all subjects showed cerebral edema. Since normoxaemic hypercapnia has been associated with absence, or less cerebral edema, we considered additional factors to explain cerebral edema and intracranial hypertension causes. Thus, intrathoracic pressures due to patient's efforts by forcibly exhaling, or during mechanical ventilation, would further increase intracranial pressure by limiting cerebral venous drainage. This case emphasizes the fact that patients with acute severe asthma who have developed profoundly hypercarbic without hypoxia before or during mechanical ventilation, may have raised critical intracranial pressure.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2.753150120448keywords = cerebral (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/111. Extrinsic cerebral venous sinus obstruction resulting in intracranial hypertension.We report the case of a 70-year-old man reporting with headache and visual disturbances who was being treated for prostate cancer. Investigations showed him to have intracranial hypertension caused by venous sinus obstruction. patients with metastatic disease and raised intracranial pressure in the absence of focal signs should be considered as possible cases of venous outflow obstruction.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.835433413632keywords = cerebral (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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