Neuropathology : official journal of the Japanese Society of Neuropathology
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Extragonadal teratomas in adulthood are exceptionally rare and usually not located within the cerebellum. We here report on a 66-year-old male patient clinically presenting with chronic occipital headache and episodes of severe vertigo. ⋯ Hence, the presented case is extraordinary with regard to age, late clinical onset of symptoms and cerebellar location. Late clinical manifestation of the tumor in this case is probably due to an acute late-onset hemorrhage within the tumor.
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Fibrocartilaginous embolism is a rare cause of anterior spinal cord infarction. We report a case of anterior spinal cord infarction caused by a fibrocartilaginous embolism of 3 months duration in a 23-year-old man. Ten days after a trivial strike to the neck and back, he had sudden back pain, weakness of the upper and lower extremities, developed dyspnea and became unconscious. ⋯ Moreover, many basophilic, alcian blue-positive emboli in the arteries and veins of the lesion were detected. This is the first autopsy case of anterior spinal cord infarction caused by a fibrocartilaginous embolism that has been confirmed in China. The clinicopathological features of this case are reviewed in this paper.
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Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) plays a major role in the development of cognitive dysfunction, emotional difficulties and behavioral disturbances in patients following closed head injury, even when they have no definite abnormalities on conventional MRI. This study aimed to develop a highly controlled and reproducible model for DAI that simulates post-traumatic cognitive dysfunction in humans. Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were subjected to impact acceleration head injury, using a pneumatic impact targeted to a steel disc centered onto their skull. ⋯ Hippocampal damage was much less pronounced and was not linked to cognitive dysfunction. This is the first report that precisely evaluates the threshold of impact energy to lead to neocortical damage and cognitive dysfunction in rodents. This model would be suitable for clarifying the complex mechanisms of post-traumatic brain damage and testing novel therapeutic approaches against post-traumatic cognitive dysfunction due to diffuse axonal damage.