High thoracic epidural anaesthesia has recently been proposed to perform surgical revascularisation with arterial grafts in awake patients. However, in high-risk patients with associated co-morbidity it is not always possible to perform complete arterial revascularisation. A technique which combines thoracic epidural and selective lumbar ...

Post dural puncture headache can be a debilitating complication of epidural and subarachnoid anaesthesia for a new mother. In a survey of 18,337 epidurals and 5021 subarachnoid blocks performed for obstetric procedures over a 23-year period in a district general hospital maternity unit, there were 167 recognised accidental dural ...

We report the occurrence of an accidental pleural puncture by an epidural catheter that happened during the attempted induction of thoracic epidural anaesthesia using a paramedian approach in an awake patient. The incorrect placement of the catheter was recognised while the patient was undergoing thoracoscopic surgery. The possibility of ...

The availability of genetically manipulated mice offers a golden opportunity for the study of the contribution of the genome to diseases. Because of the technical difficulty in performing spinal subarachnoid catheterization in mice, this opportunity has hitherto been less harnessed in investigations on the role of the spinal cord in the physiological or pathological processes. ...

We report and describe an autopsy case of a man dead for rupture of cerebral artery aneurysm with subsequent subarachnoid hemorrhage after sexual intercourse. Toxicologic analysis demonstrated that he had consumed sildenafil (Viagra). Although subarachnoid hemorrhage has been reported to be associated with sexual intercourse, it is not among the known ...

We report a case of extensive abnormal craniocervical bone pneumatization accidentally found in a patient without any history of trauma or surgery. The patient had only mild unspecific thoracic pain and bilateral paresthesia that did not correlate with computed tomography findings. PMID:21935883

The deposition of PuO sub 2 in the lungs of an occupationally exposed worker is characterized by assay for plutonium in excreta samples and from in vivo measurements of exp 241 Am in the thoracic region. Chelation therapy by intravenous injection of 1 gm ...

Giant thoracic dumbbell neurinomas are usually revealed by neurological or mediastinal signs. The case we are reporting was discovered accidentally and allow us to add some accuracy to the current diagnostic criteria for these tumors. MRI provides the most interesting information. The surgical exeresis of these tumors must use a double approach: first ...

Subarachnoid Hemorrhage, Aneurysmal; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage; Cerebral Vasospasm; Intracranial Aneurysm

A 9 year-old girl with syringomyelia and scoliosis was treated with Echols� procedure, a surgical technique that employs a metal stent to maintain drainage of fluid from the syrinx into the subarachnoid space. The patient presented to our institution 34 years later with a history of progressive myelopathy and surgically-treated deformities of the ...

We report two cases of a dural arteriovenous fistula of the anterior cranial fossa, one causing subarachnoid hemorrhage and one detected accidentally. The first case was incompletely treated by neurosurgery, and the second one was referred for endovascular therapy. Both fistulas were successfully occluded by transvenous embolization by using ...

Spinal intradural arachnoid cysts (ACs) are found frequently in the thoracic region, and often extend over four or five vertebral levels. We present a 28-year-old patient who had a giant thoracic congenital intradural extramedullary AC (T1-T12) with a 10-month history of pain, paresthesia, paraparesis and gait ataxia. A T3 to T6 laminectomy was performed. ...

Spinal arachnoiditis can rarely occur following irritation from foreign body substances, including certain oil based contrast agents used for myelography. We describe a patient with thoracic arachnoiditis, arachnoid cyst and syringomyelia, 30�years following a myelogram with Myodil. A 62-year-old female presented with chronic thoraco-lumbar back pain, a spastic paraparesis ...

Intrathecal spinal catheters (lumbar drains) are indicated for several medical and surgical conditions. In neurosurgical procedures, they are used to reduce intracranial and intrathecal pressures by diverting CSF. They have also been placed for therapeutic access to administer drugs, and more recently, vascular surgeons have used them to improve spinal cord perfusion during the treatment of ...

Symptomatic intramedullary arachnoid cysts are rare, especially in children; these lesions are rarely described as a cause of spinal cord compression in this age group. The authors report on an 18-month-old boy who experienced a sudden loss of his ability to stand and walk due to a paraparesis. Magnetic resonance imaging of the spine exhibited a cystic intramedullary lesion at the level of T5-6. A ...

Superficial haemosiderosis results from chronic subarachnoid haemorrhage during which haemosiderin is deposited in the leptomeninges around the brain, spinal cord and cranial nerves. We describe an exceptional case of superficial haemosiderosis characterised by two special aspects. (1) The cause was a secondary tethered cord syndrome due to dural adhesions which had developed ...

Non-accidental head trauma in infants is the leading cause of infant death from injury. Clinical features that suggest head trauma (also known as shaken baby syndrome or shaken impact syndrome) include the triad consisting of retinal hemorrhage, subdural, and/or subarachnoid hemorrhage in an infant with little signs of external trauma. Abusive head ...

Pneumatic nail guns are a tool used commonly in the construction industry and are widely available. Accidental injuries from nail guns are common, and several cases of suicide using a nail gun have been reported. Computed tomographic (CT) imaging, together with echocardiography, has been shown to be the gold standard for investigation of these cases. We present a case of a ...