Primary intracranial teratomas are nongerminomatous germ cell tumors. They are infrequent lesions along the craniospinal axis, with their malignant transformation extremely uncommon. A 50-year-old-male patient presented with one episode of generalized tonic-clonic seizure (GTCS), without any neurological deficit. Radiological imaging revealed a large lesion in the pineal region. He underwent gross total excision of the lesion. Histopathological examination was representative of teratoma with adenocarcinomatous malignant transformation. He underwent adjuvant radiation therapy and had an excellent clinical outcome. The present case highlights the rarity of malignant transformation of the primary intracranial mature teratoma.

BACKGROUND: Eosinophilic granuloma (EG) belongs to the family of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) and is considered to be a benign disease typically found in children younger than 15 years of age. Here, the authors describe an EG of unusual localization and clinical presentation.
METHODS: The authors report a 9-year-old girl with an EG presenting as an osteolytic lesion of the clivus. After transsphenoidal resection and histological confirmation, adjuvant chemotherapy was initiated. Presenting signs and symptoms were weight loss, episodic grimacing, and moderate ballism-like movements. After a follow-up-period of 32 months, the patient presented with a total resolution of initial symptoms and no further tumor growth.
CONCLUSIONS: Although these lesions are rare, one should consider EG as a differential diagnosis when confronted with osteolytic lesions of the clivus.

The aim of this study was to introduce a new computer guided technique for debulking and contouring the craniofacial fibrous dysplasia involving the fronto-orbital and fronto-cranial regions. Computer-guided contouring was performed using a modified patient-specific surgical depth guide for six patients with craniofacial fibrous dysplasia involving the fronto-orbital and fronto-cranial regions. Virtual planning was performed to determine the desired amount of bone removal and construct the patient-specific surgical depth guide. Then, the guide was printed using rapid prototyping. In the surgical theatre, the guide was seated in position. Implant drills were inserted through the created depth holes according to the planned fixed depth to create depth holes. Finally, the bone in between the created holes was removed using cutting discs, bone chisels and surgical burs. Satisfaction with facial aesthetics was evaluated by the patients using a Likert scale, and by the surgeons using the Whitaker rating scale. The surgical procedures were uneventful for all the patients. All the patients were satisfied with the post-operative facial esthetics and categorized as category I Whitaker rating scale. Patient-specific surgical guide technique for recontouring of fronto-orbital and fronto-cranial fibrous dysplasia can be considered an accurate substitution technique that overcomes the drawbacks of the unpredictable conventional one. Further investigations are required.

UNASSIGNED: While metastases of malignant thymomas have been shown, type A thymomas are often treated as benign. Type A thymomas often have excellent response to treatment, low recurrence rate, and a small malignant potential. To date, there have been no reports of type A thymomas with spinal metastases.
UNASSIGNED: A 66-year-old female with a type A thymoma metastatic to the T7 and T8 vertebral bodies and brain, with associated pathologic burst fracture, collapse of T7, and significant focal kyphosis . The patient underwent successful T7-T8 posterior corpectomy and T4-T11 posterior spinal fusion. At 2 years of follow-up, she was ambulating without assistive devices and completed spinal radiation and initial chemotherapy.
UNASSIGNED: Metastatic type A thymoma is a rare phenomenon. While traditionally thought to have low recurrence rates and overall excellent survival rates, our case suggests that the biologic malignant potential of a type A thymoma may not be fully understood.

UNASSIGNED: Brain Sagging Dementia (BSD) is an increasingly recognized syndrome for which diagnostic criteria recently were proposed. There have been no reports on BSD caused by a cranial leak. Here we present the first report on a patient with BSD caused by a cranial leak.
UNASSIGNED: A 60-year old male patient was admitted with a 2-year history of orthostatic headache and gradually progressive cognitive and behavioral changes. Traditional treatments for spontaneous intracranial hypotension, including repeated epidural blood patches, failed. Brain imaging showed severe brain sagging, and intracranial pressure monitoring demonstrated intracranial hypotension. No leakage site was found. His past medical history revealed an accident where a ski pole struck his head at age ten. Due to progressive clinical decline, surgery was pursued. A cranial defect with an accompanying cerebrospinal fluid leak site representing the trauma from his childhood was found and repaired. He also was in need of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. Following surgery, he improved and recovered completely.
UNASSIGNED: This case report illustrates that a cranial leak may cause BSD, even with a \"lucid interval\" between trauma and symptom debut spanning many years. Moreover, this report validates well the recently proposed BSD diagnostic criteria.

BACKGROUND: Military neurosurgeons have long known that tangential cranial gunshot wounds can be associated with intracranial complications out of proportion to the external appearance of the injury. This phenomenon seems not to have been described in infancy.
METHODS: An infant suffered a massive, acute subdural hemorrhage from a contralateral tangential gunshot wound that did not facture the skull.
CONCLUSIONS: Similar to adults, infants are subject to catastrophic intracranial injury from gunshots that do not penetrate the skull. The nature of the injury in this case reflected distinctive aspects of the tissue characteristics and proportions of the infant head.

Chondrosarcoma of the cranium is a rare malignancy. The result of treatment is challenging to assess because the slow-growing rate means that there is a long interval previously discovering the recurrence and last long time to diagnosis of recurrence. This report describes a 38-year-old man who presented with a generalized seizure 2 months before his referral. The patient underwent excisional surgery. The histological examinations revealed a cartilage developing tumor compatible with chondrosarcoma. The radiologic and histologic correlation established the diagnosis. But, the patient had two episodes of recurrence after surgery. We determined that intracranial chondrosarcoma must be comprised in the differential diagnosis of a mass with calcification on cranial imaging. Accurate diagnosis is obligatory for supplementary patient managing, and a recurrence is more common in patients only treated by surgery.

A 56-year-old female with a history of meningioma status post subtotal resection (Simpson grade IV) and extensive radiation therapy presented with osteoradionecrosis (O.R.N.) managed previously with a microvascular free flap (MVFF). The evaluation revealed worsening O.R.N. and a scalp defect of 15 × 10 cm. The patient underwent MVFF reconstruction utilizing a free latissimus muscle flap covered by meshed split-thickness skin graft (STSG). Her surgery was complicated by delayed free flap failure and Serratia marcescens growth, which occurred sometime after discharge from the hospital. This was managed with removal of the free muscle flap and skin graft, serial debridement\'s, antibiotics, and replacements of a synthetic dural matrix and negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT). Once a clean wound bed was again obtained, the patient underwent fasciocutaneous anterolateral thigh (A.L.T.) MVFF reconstruction, which was complicated by left hypoglossal nerve injury, dehiscence of the flap inset, and dehiscence of the neck access incision requiring revision surgery. On the last follow-up 2 weeks after her surgery, the patient had 100% flap viability and a 2 × 1.5 cm on the left parietal aspect of the flap healing be secondary intent. We demonstrate that NPWT is successful in managing open calvarial wounds due to O.R.N.

Hypophosphatasia (HPT) and cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD) are rare genetic disorders characterized by both defective ossification and bone mineralization. Patients usually present with craniosynostosis and cranial defects which in many cases require surgical repair. There is only 1 reported case of combined HPT and CCD in the literature. Our reported case involves a 3.5-year-old girl with concomitant homozygous CCD and heterozygous HPT. The child had an extended cranial defect since birth which improved with the administration of Strensiq and was followed until preschool age. Bone defects were relatively minor on revaluation. Due to the limited final defect, we decided not to intervene. In HPT-CCD patients, bone defects are overestimated due to osteomalacia, and thus, management strategy should be less aggressive. They should undergo surgical repair with cranioplasty with the use of cement and/or titanium meshes in case of extended final defects.

UNASSIGNED: To describe a case of idiopathic bilateral cochlear nerve atrophy acquired in adulthood.
UNASSIGNED: A 75-year-old male with acquired bilateral cochlear nerve atrophy.
UNASSIGNED: Unilateral cochlear implantation.
UNASSIGNED: Description of a patient with acquired bilateral cochlear nerve atrophy diagnosed at the age of 75. The patient had normal hearing and no communication deficits until the age of 66. At this point, the patient demonstrated a slight asymmetric hearing loss, which progressed to severe sensorineural hearing loss. Due to the resulting communication deficit, cochlear device implantation candidacy was pursued. Pre-operative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed severe atrophy versus absence of the cochlear nerves bilaterally. After careful counseling regarding the expected communication outcomes given the MRI findings, the patient underwent left-sided cochlear implantation. The patient gained sound awareness, but no additional communication benefit compared to pre-operative baseline abilities.
UNASSIGNED: Cochlear nerve deficiency is a known finding in certain cases of congenital and acquired hearing loss, but no cases of idiopathic adult-onset bilateral nerve atrophy have been reported. Without MR imaging, the clinically significant finding would not have been identified. Thus, MRI is advantageous when compared with other imaging modalities in patients with progressive sensorineural hearing loss and enables improved patient counseling regarding expected auditory and communication outcomes.