Natally Santiago

ABSTRACT Objective: Lenticulostriate artery (LSA) aneurysms are rare. Here we present 2 cases of LSA aneurysm, their clinical presentation, diagnosis, surgical treatment, and postoperative follow-up, with a review of the topic. Case Report: We report 2 female patients with LSA aneurysms among 194 surgically treated aneurysms in the Santa Paula and São Camilo Hospitals, who underwent the same surgical treatment. The first patient was a 48-year-old, Latin-American woman whose aneurysms were detected incidentally in an angiographic study carried out due to a cavernous sinus thrombosis. Both cerebral angiogram and magnetic angioresonance were performed and showed a left lenticulostriate aneurysm and 2 parasylvian aneurysms. The other case was a 62-year-old, Japanese, hypertensive patient who presented with subarachnoid hemorrhage, Fisher scale 2, and Hunt-Hess classification 2. Her angiogram showed a right LSA, left-middle cerebral artery, and anterior communicating artery aneurysms. No other pathology or infectious etiology was noted. Both patients were treated by opening the sylvian fissure, allowing the visualization of the lenticulostriate vessels and aneurysm clipping. Postoperative angiographies were performed in both cases. During the 2-year follow-up the younger patient remained with just distal right arm paresis and Rankin scale score of 1; the older patient developed normal pressure hydrocephalus, needing peritoneal ventricular drainage. Conclusions: LSA aneurysms are uncommon. Subarachnoid hemorrhage and intracranial sinus thrombosis are quite common pathologies; nevertheless, the underlying vascular abnormality is rarely identified. The most common clinical presentation is intraparenchymal hemorrhage. Microsurgical treatment is often the chosen modality of intervention. Elderly people are more likely to develop postoperative complications before and after hospital discharge, which may be associated with microscopic alterations in vessels. They are also at higher risk of more severe vasospasm and the development of hydrocephalus in cases of ruptured aneurysms.

Objective: The risk of complication of cerebral angiography has always been the focus of attention. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of cerebral angiography performed in the first 30 months of operational training in the endovascular neurosurgery service of a university hospital. Methods: A retrospective study evaluated 129 digital cerebral angiography examinations in 91 patients at a univeristy hospital from Southern Brazil. Results: The rate of complication was 2/129 (1.55%); of them, one (0.77%) presented a transient complication (hematoma puncture), and one (0.77%) a permanent complication with death of the patient because of an association between clotting in the middle cerebral artery and complications from the initial trauma. Conclusion: The rate of cerebral angiography complication obtained was low (1.75%) and underscores its reduced risk when performed in a neurological service even with professional in training. 

Pneumoencéfalo é definido como uma coleção intracraniana de ar. A maioria dos casos está associada a trauma (75% dos casos) ou a iatrogenias. O pneumoencéfalo espontâneo pode ser considerado uma entidade rara, geralmente associada à infecção, neoplasias e doenças de etiologia otogênica. Osteoma são tumores benignos, de crescimento lento, afetando mais comumente os seios frontais e etmoidais, embora os seios maxilares e esfenoidal também possam ser afetados. Complicações intracranianas e intraorbitais, associadas a osteomas de seios paranasais, como diplopia, proptose, amaurose fugaz, fístula liquórica, meningite e pneumoencéfalo espontâneo são extremamente raras. Apresentamos o caso de paciente em investigação de crises epileptiformes de início recente,com queixas de cefaléia e déficit motor no membro superior esquerdo, cujos exames de imagem mostraram lesão expansiva na projeção do seio frontal e extenso pneumoencéfalo hipertensivo frontal direito, tratados cirurgicamente. O estudo...

The giant cell tumor of bone is a primary neoplasm, which can be locally aggressive, benign or low grade malignant tumors, that is uncommon in the vertebrae above the sacrum and even more rare in the cervical spine. Tumor radical excision, “en bloc” is considered the ideal treatment, however frequently not doable, mainly in the cervical spine due to critical neurovascular structures involvement. Adjuvant radiotherapy can be used in cases of subtotal resection or tumor relapse, lowering recurrence rates of the tumor. Case report: female patient, 25 years-old, presenting with cervical pain e sensitivity disturbance in her left arm, with diagnosis of bone neoplasm in C3-C5. She underwent subtotal resection of the lesion, confirming the diagnostic of giant cell tumor of bone, cervical spine arthrodesis and adjuvant radiotherapy. On 30-month follow-up, she was out of pain complains with total recovery of the left arm sensibility.

Background: DBS is an established treatment option in refractory dystonia, and motor outcomes have been extensively evaluated instead of the usually neglected NMS (e.g., pain). Objective: To describe the non-motor symptoms (NMS) after Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) surgery for refractory generalized inherited/idiopathic dystonia in a prospective study. Design and setting: A prospective study that evaluated patients in the Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo. Methods: This study evaluated patients before and one year after DBS surgery. We applied the following scales: Burke-Fahn-Marsden Rating Scale (BFMRS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Non-Motor Symptoms Scale for Parkinson’s Disease (NMSS-PD), Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire-8 (PDQ8) Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory (NPSI) and McGill pain questionnaire. Results: 11 patients (38.35 ± 11.30 years) underwent surgery (36.3% women). Motor BFMRS subsco...

The management of hydrocephalus associated with posterior fossa tumors in children has always been controversial. Studies show that 71%-90% of children with posterior fossa tumors already presented hydrocephalus on admission. Of these cases, 10%-62% will have persistent hydrocephalus after surgical treatment of the tumor. The shunt, although it is an important alternative for preoperative treatment in these cases is not without complications. Among the numerous complications identified by the literature, we highlight the most rare, intratumoral hemorrhage, upward transtentorial herniation and dissemination of neoplastic cells by the peritoneum. Medulloblastoma is considered the most common malignant pediatric tumor, comprising 15%-20% of all intracranial tumors in childhood. In addition, 5%-6% of primary or recurrent medulloblastomas may be associated with spontaneous bleeding and rapid deterioration. The bleeding presents with tumor swelling, extending to the ventricular system thr...

ResumoHistiocitose de células de Langerhans é uma doença uni ou multifocal que acomete osso, tecido mole ou ambos. Relativamente incomum, abrange entidades clínicas anteriormente conhecidas como doença de Hand-Schüller-Christian, Abt-Letterer-Siwe, Hashimoto-Pritzker, granuloma eosinofílico e histiocitose X. Responsável por menos de 1% dos tumores ósseos, muito raramente leva a acometimento neurológico. Sua etiologia é desconhecida e seu tratamento, controverso. A ocorrência de um caso com comprometimento neurológico nos motivou a este relato. Paciente do sexo feminino, 4 anos de idade, com processo expansivo de C7 a T3 e paraparesia crural; após a cirurgia apresentou melhora importante já no segundo pós-operatório. Encontra-se em terapia complementar com corticoide e quimioterapia estando no nono mês de tratamento. Na revisão da literatura foram encontrados poucos relatos de manejo cirúrgico desse tipo de lesão, em razão de sua característica de doença autolimitada. O tratamento ad...

Introduction: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a treatment option for refractory dystonia's motor symptoms, while its non-motor symptoms (NMS) have been less systematically assessed. We aimed to describe the effects of DBS on NMS in refractory generalized inherited/idiopathic dystonia prospectively.Methods: We evaluated patients before and 1 year after DBS surgery and applied the following scales: Burke–Fahn–Marsden Rating Scale (BFMRS), NMS Scale for Parkinson's Disease (NMSS-PD), Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-8, short-form Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory (NPSI), and short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ).Results: Eleven patients (38.35 ± 11.30 years) underwent surgery, all with generalized dystonia. Motor BFMRS subscore was 64.36 ± 22.94 at baseline and 33.55 ± 17.44 1 year after DBS surgery (47.9% improvement, p = 0.003). NMSS-PD had a significant change 12 months after DBS, from 70.91 ± 59.07 to 37.18 ± 55.05 (47.5% improvement, ...

ResumoA síndrome de Wyburn-Mason ou Bonnet-Dechaume-Blanc representa uma doença neurocutânea congênita rara, não hereditária, do grupo das facomatoses, caracterizada por anormalidades vasculares ipsilaterais comprometendo a face, as vias da visão e o encéfalo, não sendo obrigatória a existência concomitante dos três locais para a confirmação diagnóstica. Acredita-se que tal distúrbio seja atribuído a um defeito de desenvolvimento do mesoderma primitivo vascular. Em 1937 e 1943, foram relatados na literatura os primeiros casos de pacientes com malformações vasculares unilaterais afetando o olho, o cérebro e a face, com tamanha riqueza de detalhes, que tal quadro sindrômico passou a receber o nome dos autores responsáveis pelas publicações. A denominação de malformações vasculares retinocefálicas unilaterais (MVR) foi utilizada primeiramente em 1974. A síndrome de Wyburn-Mason tipicamente se apresenta após a terceira década de vida e se manifesta de várias formas. As manifestações ocu...

ResumoAneurismas da junção vertebrobasilar são raros e frequentemente associados com fenestração da artéria basilar. Estudos mostram que tal entidade representa entre 3% e 9% dos aneurismas infratentoriais e 7,4% dos aneurismas da circulação posterior, excluindo-se os aneurismas da bifurcação da basilar. A sua localização profunda, anterior ao tronco cerebral, e sua íntima relação com as artérias perfurantes tornam o tratamento cirúrgico um grande desafio. A fenestração foi mais comumente encontrada na metade inferior da basilar, situando-se na porção média quando as artérias vertebrais apresentam as mesmas dimensões ou encontradas do lado correspondente à artéria vertebral de maior calibre. Outras classificações para a fenestração da basilar foram propostas. De acordo com a mais utilizada, a fenestração pode ser considerada do tipo A quando apresentar dois pontos de bifurcação proximais, com uma artéria ponte associada e do tipo B quando apresentar bifurcação simples proximal ao sí...

This case reported to a patient with AIDS who presented persistent sterile leukocyturia and hematuria, lower back pain, bladder suffering symptoms, and renal papillary necrosis which were thought to be secondary to urinary tuberculosis but were demonstrated to be indinavir-associated side effects. The intention of this report is to remind medical professionals involved in the care of HIV+ patients of this possible association in order to avoid unnecessary investigation and to stress the need of careful periodical assessment of renal function and urinalysis in patients treated with indinavir.

We evaluated the development of arterial hypertension, cardiac function, and collagen deposition, as well as the level of components of the renin-angiotensin system in the heart of transgenic rats that overexpress an angiotensin (Ang)-(1-7)-producing fusion protein, TGR(A1-7)3292 (TG), which induces a lifetime increase in circulating levels of this peptide. After 30 days of the induction of the deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt hypertension model, DOCA-TG rats were hypertensive but presented a lower systolic arterial pressure in comparison with DOCA-Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. In contrast to DOCA-SD rats that presented left ventricle (LV) hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction, DOCA-TG rats did not develop cardiac hypertrophy or changes in ventricular function. In addition, DOCA-TG rats showed attenuation in mRNA expression for collagen type I and III compared with the increased levels of DOCA-SD rats. Ang II plasma and LV levels were reduced in SD and TG hypertensive rats in comparison with normotensive animals. DOCA-TG rats presented a reduction in plasma Ang-(1-7) levels; however, there was a great increase in Ang-(1-7) ( approximately 3-fold) accompanied by a decrease in mRNA expression of both angiotensin-converting enzyme and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in the LV. The mRNA expression of Mas and Ang II type 1 receptors in the LV was not significantly changed in DOCA-SD or DOCA-TG rats. This study showed that TG rats with increased circulating levels of Ang-(1-7) are protected against cardiac dysfunction and fibrosis and also present an attenuated increase in blood pressure after DOCA-salt hypertension. In addition, DOCA-TG rats showed an important local increase in Ang-(1-7) levels in the LV, which might have contributed to the attenuation of cardiac dysfunction and prefibrotic lesions.