Management of Idiopathic Chronic Hydrocephalus of the Adult in Guinea: A Prospective Study in 16 Patients

Object: Incidence of Idiopathic chronic hydrocephalus of the adult (ICHA) is increasing in Guinea due to the aging of the population. The goal of this study was to describe its epidemiology, clinical presentation, and surgical outcome in a low-resource medical environment. Method: Sixteen patients operated for a probable ICHA were prospectively studied according to a uniform protocol from June 2019 to December 2020. On computerized tomography, all operated patients had a clinical triad of gait disturbance, incontinence, dementia associated with ventriculomegaly, and transependymal edema. In addition, all patients underwent a single lumbar tap, improved clinically, and were subsequently offered a shunt consisting of a simple catheter in 37.5% and a non-adjustable high-pressure valve in 62.5%. Result: The mean age was 68.31 ± 10.4 (range 49 - 89). The sex ratio H/F was 1.67/1. Clinically, the most frequent comorbidity was a combination of hypertension and diabetes in 56.5% of cases. The mean time to diagnosis was 8.31 ± 2.75 months (range 3 - 14). The immediate postoperative mortality was 12.5% from a status epilepticus and pulmonary sepsis. In addition, we observed 2 cases of chronic subdural hematoma (12.5%) and 2 cases of shunt dysfunction (12.5%) in the first three months. The functional outcome was good in 23% of patients at one month (N = 13), 50% at three months (N = 10), and 87.5% at six months (N = 8). Conclusion: In carefully selected cases, the surgical outcome of ICHA in Guinea is comparable to high-income countries. Efforts need to be put in helping patients get covered with universal insurance and generally promote Neurosurgery in the country to improve the quality of care.

Pre-Hospital Management of Craniocerebral Trauma in South Saharan Africa: Cotonou Experience

The management of craniocerebral trauma begins at the site of the accident. This is one of the diseases for which pre-hospital care is well codified. The objective of this study is to report the experience of the Emergency Aid Medical Service (EMAS) of BENIN in the pre-hospital management of craniocerebral trauma. 146 head injuries were cared for. 116 were male. The mean age was 32 years with extremes ranging from 2 to 77 years. Etiology in 68% of patients was a public road accident. And the request for the use of the EMAS was made by highway users for 41% of the injuries. About 5.5% were severe cranio-brain injuries, more than 75% of which had died in intensive care. In 77% of the EMAS interventions, there was an intensive care physician in the team. 34 wounded had been transported in a vacuum mattress. The rigid cervical collar was used in 8 major traumas. All the wounded were transported by ambulance. The duration of hospitalization varied from a few hours in the emergency department to 90 days in the hospital ward. 9 patients died. One of them, who died in an ambulance, was a woman. The prehospital medical care of head trauma in BENIN is still progressing.

Fasciitis on Abdominal Craniectomy Implantation

Necrotizing fasciitis is an infection of the skin and deep subcutaneous tissue. It is caused by bacteria (group A streptococcus), but may also be idiopathic ora secondary complication of surgery. We report a case of necrotizing fasciitis of the abdominal wall fostering a decompressive cranial flap in a 39-year-old patient.

Extradural Hemangioma of Thoracic Spine

A 50-year-old woman presented with mid-thoracic backache and progressive, spastic, paraparesis for 3 months. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an epidural mass without bone lesion at the level of thoracic vertebrae (T7, T8 and T9). The mass had a paraspinal invasion. The spinal cord was compressed ventrally. The lesion was totally excised through an anterolateral transthoracic approach. Histopathological examination revealed a cavernous hemangioma. The patient improved dramatically after the excision of the lesion. We report this case for its rarity.

Adult Posterior Cranial Fossa Arachnoid Cyst: A Case Report

Adult posterior fossa arachnoid cysts are rare lesions that are considered to be mostly congenital in origin. We present 49-year-old man admitted with a chief complaint of tremor and balance problems for the past 2 months. He had ataxia on examination. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a well circumscribed midline cystic lesion of the posterior fossa sharing the same signal characteristics as cerebrospinal fluid and non-communicating to the fourth ventricle. He underwent surgical treatment for his symptomatic posterior fossa arachnoid cyst with a good outcome at 2 years follow up.

Lipomatous Medulloblastoma: A Case Report

Lipomatous medulloblastoma is not a separate entity but apparently distinct variant of medulloblastoma. Since the first case report in 1978 by Bechtel et al. [1], few cases have been published. We report an additional case of a 52-year-old right-handed man presented to the emergency department with evaluation of progressive severe intracranial hypertension and ataxia. His past medical history was unremarkable. His physical examination showed cerebellar syndromes. He underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which revealed a unique mass in the posterior fossa, lying within a cerebellar hemisphere. The patient underwent a suboccipital craniotomy for with a complete resection and samples were sent for histologic examination, showing closely packed, and round to oval cells. The nuclei had an irregular shape with clumps of heterochromatin. Lipid accumulation was a prominent feature of neoplastic cells. Postoperatively the patient did not receive fractionated radiotherapy. He is alive without deficit and with no evidence of recurrence on neuroimaging.

Pachymeningeal en Plaque Tuberculoma in Children: A Case Report

Pachymeningeal en plaque tuberculoma is a rare manifestation of tuberculosis and has a poor prognosis if not diagnosed early and treated adequately. The aim of the present paper is to collect the reported clinical and radiological signs in the literature and compare it with a personal observation to evaluate the possibility of a presumptive diagnosis. A 4-year-old boy presented at the pediatric emergency department with 7 days history of severe headache, vomiting blurred vision and had one partial seizure. His neurologic examination was notable for decreased visual acuity with bilateral papilledema and intact extra-ocular muscles. His neck was rigid. Neuroimaging revealed a multifocal dural-based mass on the fronto-parietal convexity with dense heterogeneous contrast enhancement and hydrocephalus. He has undergone a Ventriculoperitoneal shunt and surgical excision of the mass the next day. Outcome was favorable with antituberculosis therapy and corticosteroids. The clinical presentation and outcome were similar to the reported cases in the literature.

Contribution of Surgery in the Care of Intracranial Hematomas in Developing Countries: Case Series of 30 Patients in Abidjan

Intracranial hematomas, whatever its causes, represent an important disabling, and dreaded adult’s lesion. This brain’s condition has not well been studied in developing countries. The aim of our study is to overview the management of intracaranial hematomas in Abidjan. It is a retrospective analytical and descriptive study, involving patients who had been admitted and monitored by neurosurgeons for intracranial hematomas, documented in brain CT scan and had been operated on from 1 January 2007 to December 31, 2009 in Abidjan. These 30 patients were 23 men and 7 women. The average age was 58.6 years old. 90% of the patients were admitted with wakefulness issues. Half had a Glasgow score of less than 8. The brain scanner allowed identification of an intraparenchymal hematoma associated or not with a cerebral ventricle contamination in 28 patients. There were 18 external ventricle derivations with or without decompressive craniectomy and 12 independent decompressive craniectomy. The evolution was marked by 20 deaths. 10 patients (33.3%) survived. Among the survivors, the first attack and arterial hypertension were the only illness before the attack. None had blood in the membranes and all had Glasgow scores greater than or equal to 9 at admission. Around 7 out of 10 patients were operated on during the first 48 hours. The operative indications of intracranial hematomas are still the subject of controversy. By basing itself on criteria and rigorous clinical and neuroimaging selection, surgery could eventually contribute to the management of this pathology which has become very frequent in Africa.