Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery
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Case Reports
Intracranial hemorrhage in an infant owing to vitamin K deficiency despite prophylaxis.
A 3-month-old male infant with intracranial hemorrhage attributable to a vitamin K deficiency is reported. Vitamin K2 was administered orally at birth and then at 5 days and I month of age. ⋯ Although the incidence of intracranial hemorrhage resulting from vitamin K deficiency has decreased since the introduction of vitamin K2 prophylaxis, spontaneous intracranial hemorrhages are still being reported in infants. We suggest that vitamin K prophylaxis is needed especially for breast-fed infants and for those undergoing antibiotic therapy.
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Review Case Reports
Dermal sinus and intramedullary spinal cord abscess. Report of two cases and review of the literature.
Intramedullary abscesses of the spinal cord are uncommon. Most of them occur in association with heart, pulmonary or urogenital infections. ⋯ In our cases, dermal sinus was associated with an epidermoid tumour. The clinical presentation, pathogenesis, magnetic resonance imaging findings, surgical management and outcome are discussed.
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Localization of epidermoid cysts to the pineal region is rare. The 7-year-old boy now reported presented with an 18-month history of progressive ataxia. CT and MRI scans demonstrated a 2.5x2.5 cm cyst at the pineal region with obstructive hydrocephalus. ⋯ One patient died from progression of the pineal region mass. This patient presented with hemiparesis, which is a marker of clinical aggressiveness. The authors advocate direct surgical attack as opposed to stereotactic diagnosis and aspiration to: (1) obtain maximal resection and thereby limit the potential for recurrence and delayed complications of the cyst; (2) possibly avoid shunt placement in patients who present with hydrocephalus; and (3) decrease the likelihood of sampling error.
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Case Reports
Cerebrospinal fluid lavage in the treatment of inadvertent intrathecal vincristine injection.
Vincristine, a widely used antineoplastic agent, is extremely toxic to the central nervous system. If given intrathecally, it produces a rapidly ascending, usually fatal, neuromyeloencephalopathy. We report a case of this complication in a 7-year-old girl with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who was receiving maintenance chemotherapy. ⋯ The associated central nervous system lesions are those of an ascending chemical leptomeningitis and ventriculitis. Cerebrospinal fluid lavage dilutes and removes the drug, thus limiting neural damage. At present this is the only treatment for intrathecal vincristine injection, and its early use in such an event is considered mandatory.
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Clinical Trial
"No allogeneic blood transfusion" protocol for the surgical correction of craniosynostoses. II. Clinical application.
The authors describe the results obtained in 13 consecutive cases of craniosynostosis operated on according to a protocol devised at avoiding allogeneic blood transfusion. The protocol is based on pre- and postoperative treatment with erythropoietin, preoperative autologous blood donation, preoperative normovolemic hemodilution and intraoperative blood salvage. Nine subjects were affected by simple forms of craniosynostosis, whereas the remaining 4 presented with oxycephaly or craniofacial syndromes. ⋯ Allogeneic blood transfusion was avoided in 11 of the 13 children considered. Two failures - defined as the necessity to reinfuse the patient with an allogeneic blood transfusion - were recorded, 1 of them resulting from an unexpected hemorrhage during surgery. The results obtained indicate that this protocol designed to avoid allogeneic blood transfusion can be safely applied in the great majority of children with craniosynostosis, even when the surgical correction is carried out early in life.