Traumatic epidural hematomas are critical emergencies in neurosurgery, and patients symptomatic from acute epidural hematomas are typically treated with rapid surgical decompression. However, some patients, if asymptomatic, may be treated with close clinical observation and serial imaging. Although rare, rapid spontaneous resolution of epidural hematomas in the pediatric population has ...

INTRODUCTION: We report the case of a 2-year-old boy with suspected meningitis who presented with acute onset neck pain and stiffness associated with right-sided weakness and ataxia. MANAGEMENT: Despite intravenous antibiotics and antiviral treatment, his condition deteriorated. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated spontaneous cervical epidural haematoma (C4-C7) extending down to thoracic ...

Benzocaine is a widely used topical oropharyngeal anesthetic and has been reported to cause methemoglobinemia. We discuss benzocaine-induced methemoglobinemia and review the causes, presentation, and management of this serious complication. Treatment with methylene blue will result in reversal of methemoglobinemia and clinical recovery in most cases but needs to be ...

Localized scleroderma in the chest region of adolescent girls leads to incomplete breast development and breast asymmetry, for which patients may require treatment. The site of localized scleroderma, its activity, the surgeon, and the patient's desires influence the selection of treatment method. There have been few reports on surgical treatment ...

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To study reports of abducens nerve palsy following dural puncture procedures and to discuss possible etiologic theories, treatment, and prognosis. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review of peer-reviewed literature. METHODS: A systematic literature review was conducted (PubMed, 1950 to September 2011) for cases of sixth cranial nerve palsy following dural puncture ...

Parturients with intracranial lesions are often assumed to have increased intracranial pressure, even in the absence of clinical and radiographic signs. The risk of herniation after an inadvertent dural puncture is frequently cited as a contraindication to neuraxial anesthesia. This article reviews the relevant literature on the use of neuraxial ...

An 86-year-old female with a history of right rotator cuff injury was admitted for arthroscopic shoulder surgery under general anesthesia. There were no remarkable immediate postoperative complications. However, while recovering in the general ward, she developed dyspnea with hypoxia. She was immediately treated with oxygen, and antibiotics after pneumomediastinum was ...

To describe the occurrence of various spinal deformations in a captive-bred wild line of Poecilia wingei (P. wingei). Fish belonging to a wild line of P. wingei caught from Laguna de Los Patos, Venezuela, were bred in an aquarium home-breeding system during a period of three years (2006-2009). The spinal ...

STUDY DESIGN: A single case is presented of a spontaneously resolving epidural arteriovenous fistula caused by a stab wound.OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate a unique case of a spontaneously resolving epidural arteriovenous fistula caused by a stab wound, as well as to present a brief review of pathology.SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Spinal ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Conflicting reports about adverse events following nitrous oxide (N2O) application have spurred a discussion whether N2O should be abandoned from clinical practice. Concurrently, N2O is increasingly used as a single anesthetic agent in medical procedures. This article reviews and discusses reports about the present use of N2O. ...

Spontaneous spinal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks are increasingly recognized in patients presenting with orthostatic headache and ultimately diagnosed with intracranial hypotension. While the precise cause of these spontaneous leaks is unknown, it is thought to result from underlying weakness in the spinal meninges and may be associated with meningeal diverticula ...

/st> The authors performed a systematic search of the literature to identify the frequency of, risk of experiencing and factors associated with adrenal crises in dental patients. /st> The authors searched PubMed and Ovid MEDLINE (1947-June 20, 2012) and Embase (1974-2012) for English-language articles related to cases of adrenal crisis ...

CONTENT: Strumpell-Lorrain disease - or familial spastic paraplegia (FSP) - is a rare hereditary neurological disorder, mainly characterized by variable degrees of stiffness and weakening of the muscles, with cognitive impairment, deafness, and ataxia in the more severe cases. We describe two female siblings with FSP programmed for cholecystectomy and ...

Anesthetic management of laboring parturients with Arnold-Chiari type I malformation poses a difficult challenge for the anesthesiologist. The increase in intracranial pressure during uterine contractions, coughing, valsalva maneuvers, and expulsion of the fetus can be detrimental to the mother during the process of labor and delivery. No concrete evidence has ...

Carcinosarcoma of the pancreas is a rare entity comprising a small subset of all pancreatic neoplasms. Diagnosis is usually established by immunohistochemical examination of the resected specimen. Prognosis is limited to several months after resection. We review the current literature on this rare type of neoplasia, considering histopathological and clinical ...

Nocardia species exist in the environment as a saprophyte; it is found worldwide in soil and decaying plant matter. They often infect patients with underlying immune compromise, pulmonary disease or history of trauma or surgery. The diagnosis of nocardiosis can be easily missed as it mimics many other granulomatous and ...

CONTRIBUTING REVIEWERS: The editors of BMC Surgery would like to thank all our reviewers who have contributed to the journal in Volume 12 (2012).

Segmental neurofibromatosis is a rare clinical finding generally with no family history and facial involvement. There are four subtypes of segmental neurofibromatosis: true segmental, localized cases with deep involvement, hereditary segmental and bilateral segmental neurofibromatosis. Here we report three patients from the same family (father, son and granddaughter) with segmental ...

The safety and utility of pediatric epidural analgesia is well established, but the risk of permanent neurological injury is unknown and largely must be extrapolated from adult literature. In this article we present a series of 4 cases of long-term or permanent neurologic complications associated with epidural analgesia. Possible mechanisms ...

We present a case of intra- and extra-articular localized pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS) of the right knee joint separately. A 14-year-old girl presented with a painful mass over the medial aspect of the right knee. MRI demonstrated nodular masses located in the anteromedial area of the knee joint and on ...

Regional anesthesia has become the preferred method of anesthesia for many upper extremity operations and generally results in decreased hospital stays, postoperative opioid requirement, and postoperative nausea. Complications of regional anesthesia are rarely reported in the literature, possibly because of limited anesthesiologist-patient follow-up. Three cases of suprascapular nerve palsy after ...

We report two cases of newborns who developed marked local edema after application of a eutectic mixture of local anesthetic (EMLA) topical anesthetic cream for neonatal male circumcision (NMC). Although local edema and erythema are known potential side effects of EMLA cream, a common anesthetic used for NMC, the loss ...

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Spinal cord herniation is a rare but well-documented condition that has been associated with tethering through the dural defect. Both spinal cord herniation and cord tethering result in progressive myelopathy that can be improved or stabilized with surgical intervention. Most cases of herniation are caused by dural defects ...

Abstract The calcifying fibrous tumor (CFT) is classified as a benign fibrous lesion, and it is a rare pathologic entity. Local excision is the preferred therapeutic approach in treating CFTs. We present the first reported case in the literature of a CFT found in the colon, and this is the ...

Although the incidence of neurological complications after shoulder surgery with regional anesthesia remains low but serious negative outcomes have been reported in the literature. Here we report a case of acute quadriplegia secondary to cervical epidural abscess and possible neck manipulation.

BACKGROUND: Myxopapillary ependymoma is a rare benign variant of ependymoma, occurring most commonly in the cauda equina/filum terminale of the spinal cord. It is rare in pediatric patients. Dissemination of the myxopapillary ependymoma along the neuraxis is uncommon both in adults and pediatric patients. METHODS: We report a 16-year-old boy ...

Obturator hernia of the fallopian tube is extremely rare. Multidetector computed tomography of a 43-year-old nulliparous woman with sudden onset lower right abdominal pain showed a low-density mass in the right obturator canal suspected of being an obturator hernia of the uterine adnexa. She was diagnosed as having an incarcerated ...

Primary spinal primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs) are rare tumors. Most of these tumors occur in children and young adults. To date, 47 cases of primary spinal PNET have been reported in the literature. These tumors are highly aggressive with rapid growth. Review of the literature shows that the overall prognosis ...

Congenital fusion of jaw and its association with ankyloblepharon filiforme adnatum is reported but is a quite rare congenital benign anomaly. It may be unilateral or bilateral and can present with a single system or multiple systems involvement. This report concentrates on describing the clinical features of above disease, likely ...

Spinal epidural angiolipomas are rare, benign tumors composed of mature lipocytes admixed with abnormal blood vessels. Only 128 cases of spinal epidural angiolipomas have been reported in literature till now. Spinal angiolipomas are predominantly located in the mid-thoracic region. We report a case of dorsal epidural angiolipoma in a 56-year-old ...

Gorham's syndrome (GS) is a rare disorder characterized by proliferation of vascular channels resulting in destruction and resorption of osseous matrix leading to bone loss. Bone loss leads to joint instability and problems during airway management and positioning for surgery. Respiratory involvement further complicates anaesthesia management. We report the anaesthetic ...

Aplastic anemia is a rare heterogeneous disorder of hematopoietic stem cells causing pancytopenia and marrow hypoplasia with the depletion of all types of blood cells. This results in anemia, neutropenia and thrombocytopenia, which pose a challenge to both surgical and anesthetic management of such cases. We report a child with ...

Bacterial meningitis is rarely complicated by an intradural spinal abscess, and recurrent meningitis is an uncommon presentation of a spinal intramedullary abscess. Here, we report a 63-year-old patient with recurrent meningitis as the first manifestation of an underlying spinal intramedullary abscess. To the best of our knowledge, no previous report ...

Spinal epidural abscess, if especially caused by Brucellosis is a very rare disease which is usually a consequence of spondylodiscitis. The spinal column can be affected at any joint; however, the lumbar spine is the most common region, especially at the level of the L4-5 and L5-S1. The frequency of ...

A case of unilateral pulmonary hypoplasia in association with abdominal situs inversus (Situs Inversus Partialis) is described here in a 2-mo-old baby. The normally related heart (levocardia) is dextroposed due to the hypoplastic right lung and compensatory hyper-inflation of the opposite lung which clinically mimicked a mirror-image situs inversus totalis. ...

Pneumorachis or epidural emphysema is defined as free air in the spinal canal which is seen following trauma, head trauma, manipulations, epidural injections, and spinal surgery. We report on the case of a 62-year-old with cervical and thoracic pneumorachis following a traffic accident.

A 32-year-old woman presented to the endocrinology clinic with recent onset galactorrhoea. Investigations revealed raised prolactin levels. An MRI scan demonstrated a normal pituitary gland, and an incidental finding of sphenoid sinusitis with expansion of the sphenoid sinus was thought to be due to a mucocele. It is postulated that ...

A 7-year-old male patient developed palpebral ptosis and paralysis of the extraocular muscles following local anesthetic administration for a major operative procedure on the permanent mandibular left first molar. Complete resolution occurred within approximately 30 minutes. The purpose of this case report was to detail an iatrogenic paresis of the ...

The authors describe the first case of eye amelanotic cellular blue nevus reported in literature and discuss the main differential diagnosis.

Aggressive deep angiomyxoma (AA) is locally infiltrative, non-metastasizing neoplasm that typically occurs in the pelvis and perineum in women of the reproductive age. Local recurrence is high despite apparently complete surgical resection. The authors describe a case of AA in the pelvis in a 27-year-old woman. She underwent one invasive ...

Pulmonary carcinosarcoma is a rare and aggressive neoplasm that has both epithelial and mesenchymal components. We report on a 63-year-old woman who was found to have a right upper-lobe pulmonary carcinosarcoma with metastases to the liver and gastric fundus. There are currently no published guidelines on the treatment of pulmonary ...

Objective:To report the first case of treatment of Nager syndrome associated conductive hearing loss with bone-anchored hearing aids, in a three-year-old boy.Method:Clinical case report and current literature review regarding the use of bone-anchored hearing aids in the treatment of conductive hearing loss in children.Results:A three year eight month old boy ...

Oxaliplatin with infusional 5-fluorouracil plus leucovorin (FOLFOX regimen) is the one of the standard chemotherapy regimens for treating a colorectal carcinoma. The most common side effects include neutropenia, diarrhea, vomiting and peripheral neuropathy, and these are moderate and manageable. However, pulmonary toxicity is rarely reported to be associated with the ...

Chondroblastoma is a benign bone tumor with a relatively high incidence in older children and adolescents. Although it is generally regarded as a benign neoplasm, it sometimes grows aggressively or recurs but rarely metastasizes to the lung. We herein present a very rare case of a bilateral pneumothorax due to ...

Laryngeal amyloidosis is uncommon and poorly understood, with limited long-term studies. Although primary localized laryngeal amyloidosis is extremely rare, it frequently involves the ventricles and the false and true vocal cords. We present a 58-year-old woman with localized laryngeal amyloidosis who presented no symptoms. On indirect laryngoscopic examination, the mass ...

Candida Famata is an opportunistic pathogen. Very rare cases of candidemia Candida Famata have been described. We report a case of a patient of 16 years undergoing chemotherapy for Hodgkin's disease. The patient was put under voriconazole for 3 weeks with a good evolution. This case confirms the opportunistic pathogen ...

Complete inversion and impaction of both permanent central incisors is uncommon and rarely reported in the literature. In this report, we describe the treatment of maxillary central incisors that were completely inverted and impacted and positioned high in the vestibule. The esthetic results achieved provide an alternative to extraction or ...

This is the case report of a young infant with early respiratory distress and pulmonary hypertension, diagnosed as a variant of horseshoe lung and we have reviewed the literature to seek information about this rare pulmonary malformation and its cardiac and hemodynamic repercussions.

Geminated teeth occur more frequently in the deciduous dentition than in the permanent dentition, with prevalence figures of 0.6% and 0.1%, respectively. Bilateral presentation is rare. A survey of the literature showed that the prevalence estimates for bilateral double teeth range from 0.01% to 0.04% in the deciduous dentition, and ...

The number of published cases of adenomatoid odontogenic tumor (AOT) has steadily increased, and about half were reported in Asian populations. Although the clinicopathologic profile of AOT has been extensively reported, factual knowledge of its pathogenesis is rudimentary at best, and there is controversy as to precisely which odontogenic epithelium ...