• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.395-398
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• 2010

The majority of cases of pneumocephalus are secondary to trauma or medical intervention. Spontaneous, non-traumatic pneumocephalus is an uncommon condition. Most cases of spontaneous pneumocephalus require surgery. However, if there is no evidence of infection or cerebrospinal fluid leak, bed rest and follow-up imaging is an alternative treatment. Herein, we report a 31-year-old man with spontaneous pneumocephalus associated with pneumosinus dilatans.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.254-256
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• 2012

Intracranial hypotension syndrome typically occurs spontaneously or iatrogenically. It can be associated with headache, drowsy mentality and intracranial heamorrhage, Iatrogenic intracranial hypotension can occur due to dural pucture, trauma and spine surgery. Treatment may include conservative therapy and operation. We report a case of a 54-year-old man who was successfully treated with epidural blood patches for intracranial hypotension due to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage into the lumbosacral area after spine surgery.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.119-122
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• 2011

We report a case of 70-year-old man with glioblastoma presenting as acute encephalitic illness. The patient exhibited sudden onset of cognitive impairment and headache for 2 days. Initial brain MRI showed left temporal lobe hyperintensity, and cerebrospinal fluid cytology revealed a mild pleocytosis. The patient had initially improved after medical treatment with a presumptive diagnosis of herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE). After 8 months, the patient complained of recurrent seizures. A follow-up brain MRI revealed marked increases in size and surrounding perilesional edema in the left temporal lesion on T2-weighted images and a new contrast-enhancing lesion on gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted images. Stereotactic brain biopsy revealed a glioblastoma. The atypical encephalitic presentation of glioblastoma should be considered if definitive evidence for the diagnosis of HSE cannot be obtained.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.256-259
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• 2009

The authors report a case of 42-year-old woman with an intraventricular tumor in the trigone of the left lateral ventricle. The first operation achieved a microscopically complete resection. The tumor was histologically atypical meningioma. After 26 months, there were recurrences of intraventricular meningioma. Complete resection of the tumor and adjuvant radiation therapy were performed, and the histological diagnosis was malignant meningioma. Sixteen months after the second operation, spinal metastasis in cervicolumbar lesion was diagnosed and a subtotal removal of cervical intradural extramedullary mass was performed. We describe an unusual case of intraventricular malignant meningioma with cerebrospinal fluid-disseminated spinal metastases with review of the clinical courses of previous reports.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.103-105
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• 2014

Intracranial haemorrhages are rare but potentially life-threatening complications of spine surgery. Most reported cases involved subdural or cerebellar haemorrhages; supratentorial parenchymal bleeding is very uncommon. We report a 28-year-old woman who underwent resection of a thoracic Ewing's sarcoma, and developed fatal haemorrhages around her cerebral metastases during surgery. The clinical presentations, possible pathogenesis and potential preventive measures are discussed. Patients with disseminated metastases within the neural axis are at risks of intracranial complications during spine surgery. The presence of intracranial mass lesions should be considered as a relative contraindication to intradural spine surgery.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.525-527
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• 2013

Upward migration of the peritoneal catheter of a subgaleo-peritoneal (SP) shunt and coiling into the subgaleal space is an extremely rare complication of a SP shunt. A 32-year-old male patient visited our hospital presenting with a large skull defect due to a prior craniectomy performed elsewhere. The patient underwent a cranioplasty with methylmetacrylate, but subsequently developed progressive pseudomeningocele and subgaleal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collection. The patient underwent CSF diversion via a SP shunt. After SP shunting, the pseudomeningocele disappeared completely. Six months later, the patient presented with progressive scalp swelling. Skull X-ray showed migration and coiling of the distal catheter of the SP shunt. The patient was treated by removing the entire shunt catheter and the dura was covered with a subgaleal flap. We would like to report our experience with a very rare complication of subgaleo-peritoneal shunting.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.118-120
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• 2013

We report a rare case of remote cerebellar hemorrhage after intradural disc surgery at the L1-2 level. Two days after the spine surgery, patient complained unexpected headache, dizziness, nausea and vomiting. From the urgently conducted brain CT, it was reported that the patient had cerebellar hemorrhage. Occipital craniotomy and hematoma evacuation was performed, and hemorrhagic lesion on the right cerebellum was effectively removed. After occipital craniotomy, the patient showed signs of improvement on headache, dizziness, nausea and vomiting. He was able to leave the hospital after two weeks of initial operation without any neurological deficit. Remote cerebellar hemorrhage following spinal surgery is extremely rare, but may occur from dural damage of spinal surgery, accompanied with cerebrospinal fluid leakage. Early diagnosis is particularly important for the optimal treatment of remote cerebellar hemorrhage.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.521-524
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• 2013

Ependymoma can spread via cerebrospinal fluid, but late spinal recurrences of intracranial tumor are very rare. We describe a case of a 33-year-old male who presented with multiple, delayed, recurrent lesions in the spinal cord from an intracranial ependymoma. The patient underwent gross total resection and postoperative radiation therapy 14 years prior to visit for a low grade ependymoma in the 4th ventricle. The large thoraco-lumbar intradural-extramedullary spinal cord tumor was surgically removed and the pathologic diagnosis was an anaplastic ependymoma. An adjuvant whole-spine radiation therapy for residual spine lesions was performed. After completion of radiation therapy, a MRI showed a near complete response and the disease was stable for three years.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.249-251
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• 2013

Pneumocephalus is a condition characterized by the presence of air in the cranium, and it is mainly caused by trauma or a neurosurgical procedure. In the absence of head trauma or a neurosurgical procedure, meningitis is an extremely rare cause of pneumocephalus. Here, the authors present a rare case of spontaneous pneumocephalus caused by pneumococcal meningitis, in which simple lateral radiography and computed tomography (CT) findings of the skull suggested the diagnosis. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis showed bacterial meningitis which later revealed streptococcus pneumonia. The patient was treated with antibiotics and responded remarkably well. Repeat CT performed after 2 weeks of treatment showed complete resolution of the intracranial gas. Here, the authors report an unusual case of a pneumocephalus caused by meningitis in the absence of head trauma or a neurosurgical procedure.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.63 no.3
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• pp.321-326
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• 2020

There has been confusion in the classification of terminal myelocystocele (TMCC) due to its diverse morphology and vague pathoembryogenesis. TMCC could be summarized as having the essential features of an elongated caudal spinal cord extruding out of the dorsal extraspinal space that fuses with the subcutaneous fat, which is in the shape of a trumpet-shaped cerebrospinal fluid-filled cyst. The extraspinal portion of the extruded spinal cord is nonfunctional. The morphological features suggest that TMCC is formed during secondary neurulation, specifically the failure of the degeneration of the secondary neural tube near the time of the terminal balloon. This review discusses the definition, as well as the clinical and surgical features, of TMCC with special emphasis on its pathoembryogenesis.