It is known that free-falling accident is one of the major causes of head or spinal injury, especially in the elderly and children. But, the frequent injury types are diverse according to the reports because of the different subjects studied among the reports. A cranio-spinal injury caused by free-falling accident from height hasn't been studied a lot in Korea yet. To evaluate the clinical aspects of cranio-spinal fracture caused by free-falling injury which developed particularly in a certain fixed place, we analyzed 122 patients who had had the fractures involving extremities, ribs, and cranio-spinal regions during the past 4 years from January 1994 through July 1997. Forty-seven patient(38.5%) had the cranio-spinal fracture. The incidence of the skull and vertebral body fracture were significantly higher than that of the vertebral transverse process fracture, respectively (p=.052 and p=.007). There was statistically insignificant in the height of falls between the skull and vertebral body fracture(p=.175). Associated extra- craniospinal fractures were noted on radius(25.4%), rib(20.5%), femur(9%), calcaneus(5.7%), and pelvic bone(4.9%), in order of frequency.
Aged ; Child ; Extremities ; Head ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Ribs ; Skull ; Skull Fractures ; Spinal Injuries

The bone formation accompanied with other diseases in brain has been rarely reported. Furthermore, it has not been reported without any specific disease. We report a case of a 27 year old female who was referred to our hospital because of the incidentally found calcified lesion in plain X-ray of the skull. The CT and MRI of the brain showed a calcification with minimal enhancement at left parietal area. The calcified lesion was removed and biopsy was performed with stereotactic guided craniotomy. Pathologically, the lesion was confirmed as the membranous bone which was composed of bony trabeculations with osteocytes and the biopsy from adjacent area to the bone revealed a gliosis without any other disease.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Brain ; Craniotomy ; Female ; Gliosis ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Osteocytes ; Osteogenesis* ; Rabeprazole ; Skull

We report a 35-year old female patient with history of seizure and mass which was confirmed as a plasma cell granuloma, arising in the left parietal area. The mass appeared on magnetic resonance imaging as well circumscribed area of decreased signal that markedly enhanced with administration of the contrast. Pathologically, biopsy showed a mixed cellular population with considerable numbers of plasma cells along with eosinophils and lymphocytes and the tumors was characterized immunohistochemically by polyclonal population of lymphoid cells.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Brain ; Eosinophils ; Female ; Granuloma, Plasma Cell* ; Humans ; Lymphocytes ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Plasma Cells* ; Plasma* ; Rabeprazole ; Seizures

Multiple intracranial tumors of different cell types are rare. We report a case of double primary intracranial tumors of different histologic types: oligodendroglioma, and pituitary adenoma. Von Recklinghausen's disease or other etiologic factors supposedly associated with multiple brain tumors were not recognized in this 36-year-old male patient.
Adult ; Brain Neoplasms* ; Brain* ; Humans ; Male ; Neurofibromatosis 1 ; Oligodendroglioma ; Pituitary Neoplasms

Acute calcific retropharyngeal tendinitis, also known as calcific tendinitis of the longus colli, is an underrecognized inflammatory condition by deposition of calcium hydroxyapatite in the tendon fibers of the longus colli muscles. This disease entity may occur in any part of the body, however, rarely occur in the prevertebral musculature. Symptoms and signs of this disease are neck pain and stiffness associated with odynophagia and retropharyngeal soft tissue swelling. Because of self-limiting disease, the symptoms resolve usually with or without anti-inflammatory medication and analgesics within days or weeks. We report a case of acute calcific retropharyngeal tendinitis with a reviews of the related literatures.
Analgesics ; Durapatite ; Muscles ; Neck Pain ; Tendinopathy* ; Tendons

A rare case of solitary intraspinal epidural lymphangioma is described with a review of the literature. A 16-year-old boy was admitted to our hospital with a history of two-year of progressive paraparesis. Magnetic resonance imaging study revealed a 2 x 2 x 6 cm sized epidural cystic mass in the thoracic spine. Surgical total removal and biopsy were performed. The final pathologic report on the mass indicated lymphangioma.
Adolescent ; Biopsy ; Epidural Space ; Humans ; Lymphangioma ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Paraparesis ; Spine

Intervertebral disc herniation is rare in adolescence, although several cases have been reported in the literature. We present three cases of lumbar disc herniation with low back pain and severe scoliosis (Cobb angle greater than 20 degrees). The patients had no prior history of trauma or collagen disease. Preoperative MRI scans showed L3-L4 (case 1), L4-L5 (case 3) and L5-S1 (case 2) disc herniations with no other bony or structural changes. Following discectomy, patient pain resolved, and scoliosis improved without further treatment. We conclude that severe scoliosis associated with disc herniation in young patients is likely secondary to pain and is not indicative of further structural changes.
Adolescent ; Collagen Diseases ; Diskectomy ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc ; Low Back Pain ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Scoliosis

Occasionally, a posterior fossa arachnoid cyst can induce compression of the spinal cord and cause syringomyelia. Here, we report the case of a 29-year-old man with both progressive shoulder pain and gait disturbance, who was found to have a huge retrocerebellar arachnoid cyst associated with syringomyelia. Accordingly, posterior fossa decompression and arachnoid cyst excision were performed. Post-operative MRI showed a marked reduction in the size of the arachnoid cyst and syringomyelia. The patient's symptoms were clearly improved compared to before surgery. In our view, treatment in such patients should focus on decompressing the foramen magnum and include the removal of the coexistent arachnoid cyst walls, which appear to be the crucial factor in development of syringomyelia. In this report, we discuss the pathogenic mechanisms underlying syringomyelia-associated retrocerebellar arachnoid cyst and review the current literature on this topic.
Adult ; Arachnoid* ; Decompression ; Foramen Magnum ; Gait ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Shoulder Pain ; Spinal Cord ; Syringomyelia*

OBJECTIVE: Two-dimensional fluoroscopy-based computerized navigation for the placement of pedicle screws offers the advantage of using stored patient-specific imaging data in providing real-time guidance during screw placement. The study aimed to describe the accuracy and reliability of a fluoroscopy-based navigation system for pedicle screw insertion. METHODS: A total of 477 pedicle screws were inserted in the lower back of 96 consecutive patients between October 2007 and June 2012 using fluoroscopy-based computer-assisted surgery. The accuracy of screw placement was evaluated using a sophisticated computed tomography protocol. RESULTS: Of the 477 pedicle screws, 461 (96.7%) were judged to be inserted correctly. Frank screw misplacement [16 screws (3.3%)] was observed in 15 patients. Of these, 8 were classified as minimally misplaced (< or =2 mm); 3, as moderately misplaced (2.1-4 mm); and 5, as severely misplaced (>4 mm). No complications, including nerve root injury, cerebrospinal fluid leakage, or internal organ injury, were observed in any of the patients. CONCLUSION: The accuracy of pedicle screw placement using a fluoroscopy-based computer navigation system was observed to be superior to that obtained with conventional techniques.
Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Humans ; Surgery, Computer-Assisted

Vertebroplasty (VP) is a well-known therapeutic modality used to treat pain associated with vertebral compression fractures. Major complications such as cord or root compression, epidural and subdural hematomas (SDH) and pulmonary emboli, occur in less than 1% of patients who undergo VP after compression fracture. Spinal SDH is an extremely rare complication that usually happens a few hours after the procedure. We report a case of spinal SDH that developed at two weeks after a successful VP. We also reviewed related literatures and discussed its possible pathogenesis.
Fractures, Compression ; Hematoma, Subdural ; Hematoma, Subdural, Spinal ; Humans ; Spine ; Vertebroplasty