Continuous cerebrospinal fluid drainage by spinal puncture for cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea after pituitary adenoma surgery

Objective： Cerebrospinal fluid （CSF） rhinorrhea may be a serious complication after neurosurgery. Some of them can be treated conservatively by continuous CSF drainage with a lumbar subarachnoid catheter. On the other hand, spinal puncture may result in headache by CSF leakage. Methods： Present a 17-year-old female who suffered from CSF rhinorrhea after pituitary surgery was treated by making use of spinal puncture after failed catheter drainage. Results： The patient was successfully treated by this way. Conclusion： Spinal puncture by 16-gauge Touhy needle seems to be a possible way to substitute the traditional continuous lumbar subarachnoid catheter to drain the CSF in patients with rhinorrhea.

Cerebral Venous Thrombosis: A Rare Complication of Spinal Anesthesia

Introduction: Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is a rare complication of spinal anesthesia. The diagnosis is difficult when it occurs by isolated headache, following post spinal puncture headache (PSPH). We report a case of cerebral venous thrombosis complicating PSPH, following a spinal anesthesia. Observation: A 23-year-old man was admitted to the emergency room for PSPH appeared 6 hours after a spinal aesthesia for removal of osteosynthesis equipment from the right tibial plateau. The headache was fronto-occipital, relieved by lying down. Six days later, headache became permanent, not relieved by morphine, associated with vomiting. The neurological examination was normal. Brain magnetic resonance Magnetic venography showed superior sagittal sinus and right transverse sinus thrombosis. After administration of low molecular weight heparin at curative dose, and warfarin under INR control, the evolution was marked by a rapid regression of headaches on the same day. After a 1-year setback, the patient was asymptomatic. Conclusion: CVT is a rare complication of spinal anesthesia and potentially severe if diagnosed lately. Urgent brain imaging must be performed for any atypical headache or the onset of neurological disorders so as not to misunderstand cerebral vein thrombosis. Controlling the spine anesthesia would reduce the inadvertent perforation of the dura-mother that would lead to CVT complicating post spinal puncture headaches.

Leptomeningeal carcinomatosis as the initial manifestation of gastric adenocarcinoma:A case report

Leptomeningeal involvement is usually reported as a secondary event in advanced gastric carcinoma. Leptomeningeal carcinomatosis (LMC), as the initial manifestation of asymptomatic gastric cancer, is exceedingly rare with only a few cases reported in recent years. The presenting neurologic symptoms include headache, vomiting and seizures and are usually clinically atypical. The diagnosis of LMC is made via identification of malignant cells that originate from epithelial cells in the cerebrospinal fluid by cytological examination and provides cues to track the primary tumor. Endoscopic examinations are crucial to confirm the presence of gastric cancer, and imaging studies, especially gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, are sometimes helpful in diagnosis. Thus far, there is no standard therapy for LMC, and despite all measures, the prognosis of the condition is extremely poor. Here, we report on the clinical features and diagnostic procedures for a patient with occult gastric cancer with Bormann type I macroscopic appearance and poor differentiation in pathology, who presented with LMC-induced neurological symptoms as the initial clinical manifestation. Additionally, we review the similar cases reported over the past years, making comparison among cases in order to provide more information for the future diagnosis.