1/7. Pseudoporphyria induced by propionic acid derivatives.BACKGROUND: Pseudoporphyria is a photosensitive bullous skin disease that is distinguished from porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) by its normal porphyrin profile. Drugs are a major cause of this disease, and the list of culprits is continually expanding. Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents (NSAIDs), especially naproxen and other propionic acid derivatives, appear to be the most common offenders. OBJECTIVE: The study was carried out to increase awareness about the etiology and characteristic features of pseudoporphyria. methods: We report two cases of pseudoporphyria caused by naproxen and oxaprozin. We review the current English language literature on this entity and discuss its clinical features, histology, ultrastructure, etiology, and pathophysiology. RESULTS: A 44-year-old man taking naproxen for chronic low back pain and a 20-year-old woman on oxaprozin for rheumatoid arthritis presented with tense bullae and cutaneous fragility on the face and the back of the hands. In both, skin biopsy showed a cell-poor subepidermal vesicle with festooning of the dermal papillae. Direct immunofluorescence revealed staining at the dermal-epidermal junction and around blood vessels with IgG in the first case and with IgG, IgA, and fibrin in the second case. urine collections and serum samples yielded normal levels of uro- and coproporphyrins. CONCLUSIONS: Most cases of pseudoporphyria are drug-induced. naproxen, the most common offender, has been associated with a dimorphic clinical pattern: a PCT-like presentation and one simulating erythropoietic protoporphyria in the pediatric population. Other NSAIDs of the propionic acid family can also cause pseudoporphyria.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/7. Metastatic meningioma in the sacrum: a case report.STUDY DESIGN: This report describes a 51-year-old woman with a sacral metastatic meningioma that originated from an intracranial meningioma. OBJECTIVES: To describe an unusual presentation of a metastatic meningioma in the sacrum. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Extracranial metastases of meningioma are very rare. The phenomenon of metastasis may have more to do with the ability to invade the wall of a blood vessel than with the mitotic activity of a tumor. Therefore, metastases of the meningioma can occur even with a benign histologic picture in the original intracranial meningioma. methods: A 51-year-old woman had experienced low back pain and sciatica of the left leg for several months. Plain radiographs of the lumbosacral spine showed an osteolytic lesion with an irregular margin that occupied the left side of the sacrum. magnetic resonance imaging revealed a soft mass invading the left sacrum, ilium, and presacral space. RESULTS: Surgical removal of the sacral tumor via an anterior-posterior-anterior approach was done. Histopathologic examination revealed a metastatic meningioma with a meningotheliomatous histologic composition. Sixteen months after excision of the metastatic sacral lesion, the patient was ambulating freely and experiencing mild constipation and urine retention. CONCLUSIONS: In this case of metastatic meningioma in the sacrum, which is the first such report to the authors' best knowledge, total excision of the tumor was successful.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/7. Swelling of the leg, deep venous thrombosis and the piriformis syndrome.BACKGROUND: The piriformis syndrome, which was first described 60 years ago, is a well recognized cause of sciatica, leg pain and low back pain, due to the entrapment of the sciatic nerve in the piriformis and other rotator muscles. Very few complications relating to this syndrome have been described. AIMS: To discuss how the piriformis syndrome may cause venous engorgement in the lower limb, and how the piriformis syndrome should be included as a possible cause of acute deep venous thrombosis in a not initially swollen leg. Both complications can occur independently. methods: Two cases of swelling of the leg and acute deep venous thrombosis independently associated with the piriformis syndrome are presented. CONCLUSIONS: Swelling of the leg and deep venous thrombosis are possible complications of the piriformis syndrome that occur due to entrapment of nerves and vessels within the leg, secondary to a severe spasm and hypertrophy of the piriformis and other rotator muscles.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/7. Myelopathy and sciatica induced by an extradural S1 root haemangioblastoma.Haemangioblastomas are vascular tumours which mainly involve the central nervous system and retina, often in the setting of von hippel-lindau disease. Haemangioblastomas occurring outside the central nervous system are uncommon. Wherever it is, recognising this tumour prior to surgery is desirable, as preoperative embolisation may be considered. We report the clinical, imaging and pathological features of a sporadic sacral root haemangioblastoma in a 58-year-old man with chronic sciatica and myelopathy. The diagnosis was questioned preoperatively because an enlarged sacral foramen, seen to be filled by a highly vascular, enhancing mass and dilated vessels. Myelopathy was attributed to the presumed high venous pressure resulting from increased flow in veins draining the vascular tumour. Microneurosurgical excision was performed after endovascular embolisation and led to persistent clinical improvement.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/7. paraplegia after lumbosacral nerve root block: report of three cases.BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Lumbar nerve root blocks and epidural steroid injections are frequently employed in the management of degenerative conditions of the lumbar spine, but relatively few papers have been published that address the complications associated with these interventions. Serious complications include epidural abscess, arachnoiditis, epidural hematoma, cerebrospinal fluid fistula and hypersensitivity reaction to injectate. Although transient paraparesis has been described after inadvertent intrathecal injection, an immediate and lasting deficit has not been previously described as sequelae of a nerve root block. PURPOSE: We present three cases in which either persisting paraplegia or paraparesis occurred immediately after administration of a lumbar nerve root block and propose a mechanism for this devastating but previously unreported complication. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING: case reports of three patients. PATIENT SAMPLE: Three patients, two women and one man ranging in age from 42 to 64 years, underwent three procedures performed at three different facilities, in the hands of two different injectionists. In each instance, penetration of the dura was not thought to have occurred. In two procedures the needles were placed transforamenally, one at L3-4 on the left and one at L3-4 on the right, and in the third the needle tip was placed immediately lateral to the S1 nerve root. OUTCOME MEASURES: Patient follow-up data from medical office records. methods: In each case, needle placement was verified with injection of a contrast media in conjunction with either computerized tomography or biplanar fluoroscopy. No backbleeding or cerebrospinal fluid was encountered upon aspiration in any of the procedures. magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed within 48 hours of injury in all patients. RESULTS: In each patient, paraplegia suddenly ensued after instillation of the steroid solution and, in each instance, postprocedure MRI revealed increased signal in the low thoracic spinal cord on T2-weighted imaging consistent with edema. The sudden onset of neurological deficit and the imaging changes noted in the spinal cord point to a vascular explanation for these injuries. We postulate that in these patients the spinal needle either penetrated or caused injury to an abnormally low dominant radiculomedullary artery, a recognized anatomical variant. This vessel, also known as the artery of Adamkiewicz, in 85% of individuals arises between T9 and L2, usually from the left, but in a minority of people may arise from the lower lumbar spine and rarely even from as low as S1. The artery of Adamkiewicz travels with the nerve root through the neural foramen and irrigates the anterior spinal artery. Injury of it or injection of particulate matter into it, as what may happen with the commonly used epidural steroid injectates, may result in infarction of the lower thoracic spinal cord, producing the clinical and imaging findings seen in these three patients. CONCLUSIONS: We present the cases of three patients who had lasting paraplegia or paraparesis after the performance of a nerve root block. We propose that the mechanism for this rare but devastating complication is the concurrence of two uncommon circumstances, the presence of an unusually low origin of the artery of Adamkiewicz and an undetected intraarterial penetration of the procedure needle.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/7. low back pain as the initial symptom of inferior vena cava agenesis.Inferior vena cava (IVC) agenesis is a rare anomaly that is usually an incidental finding in radiologic work-up or it can rarely be symptomatic due to deep venous thrombosis of iliac veins. In this report, we present a case of IVC agenesis detected on lumbar spinal MR imaging scans by extensive epidural-paravertebral collateral vessels compressing the thecal sac and causing low back pain in a child.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/7. Vascular injury during lumbar diskectomy associated with peridiskal fibrosis: case report and literature review.Dense peridiskal fibrosis was encountered during a lumbar diskectomy for a chronic lumbar disk herniation. Posteriorly the adhesions involved the annulus, dura mater, nerve roots, posterior longitudinal ligament, and sequestrated disk material. Anteriorly the iliac vessels were also densely adherent to the disk. When disk material was removed from a standard posterior approach, the left common iliac vein tore, leading to severe hypotension. Vascular injury by instruments has been described by many clinicians, but this indirect mechanism of injury has not been reported in the literature, nor has extensive peridiskal fibrosis been described in a spine without a history of previous surgery.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |