Iliopsoas abscess (IPA) rarely occurs in newborns and infants. Symptom triad, including fever, inguinal swelling or discoloration, and limited lower limb movement, is observed in most cases. Herein, we report a case of unusual IPA in an 82-day-old boy who presented with fever as the only symptom. To our best knowledge, there have been no reports of infant IPA presenting without localizing signs. This report highlights the importance of a high degree of suspicion for timely diagnosis of infant IPA when an infant presents only with fever.

OBJECTIVE: Alternate ascending/descending directional navigation (ALADDIN) is a novel arterial spin labeling technique that does not require a separate spin preparation pulse. We sought to compare the normalized cerebral blood flow (nCBF) values obtained by ALADDIN and dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) perfusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with primary brain tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixteen patients with primary brain tumors underwent MRI scans including contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging, DSC perfusion MRI, and ALADDIN. The nCBF values of normal gray matter (GM) and tumor areas were measured by both DSC perfusion MRI and ALADDIN, which were compared by the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Subgroup analyses according to pathology were performed with the Wilcoxon signed rank test. RESULTS: Higher mean nCBF values of GM regions in the bilateral frontal lobe, temporal lobe, and caudate were detected by ALADDIN than by DSC perfusion MRI (p <0.05). In terms of the mean or median nCBF values and the mean of the top 10% nCBF values from tumors, DSC perfusion MRI and ALADDIN did not statistically significantly differ either overall or in each tumor group. CONCLUSION: ALADDIN tended to detect higher nCBF values in normal GM, as well as higher perfusion portions of primary brain tumors, than did DSC perfusion MRI. We believe that the high perfusion signal on ALADDIN can be beneficial in lesion detection and characterization.
Brain Neoplasms ; Cerebrovascular Circulation ; Frontal Lobe ; Glioma ; Gray Matter ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Angiography ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Pathology ; Perfusion ; Temporal Lobe

Epidermoid cysts are uncommon intracranial tumors. As one of the extradural types of epidermoid cysts, intradiploic epidermoid cysts are even rarer tumors and occur in any part of the skull. We herein report a rare case of a giant intradiploic epidermoid cyst of the occipital bone. A 57-year-old woman presented with a 1-year history of localized headache in the occipital area. CT and MRI showed an extradural mass measuring 50×70 mm in the occipital bone with bony destruction. The patient underwent surgical resection. The tumor was completely removed with its capsule. There was no extension to the intradural space. The pathological report confirmed that the tumor was an epidermoid cyst. Follow-up MRI 24 months after the operation showed no recurrence. The headache was well controlled without any medications. We report a rare case of intradiploic epidermoid cyst with clinical and radiologic features and surgical treatment. It is important to consider this diagnosis for a patient with persistent regional headache with or without a growing scalp mass.

Epidermoid cysts are uncommon intracranial tumors. As one of the extradural types of epidermoid cysts, intradiploic epidermoid cysts are even rarer tumors and occur in any part of the skull. We herein report a rare case of a giant intradiploic epidermoid cyst of the occipital bone. A 57-year-old woman presented with a 1-year history of localized headache in the occipital area. CT and MRI showed an extradural mass measuring 50×70 mm in the occipital bone with bony destruction. The patient underwent surgical resection. The tumor was completely removed with its capsule. There was no extension to the intradural space. The pathological report confirmed that the tumor was an epidermoid cyst. Follow-up MRI 24 months after the operation showed no recurrence. The headache was well controlled without any medications. We report a rare case of intradiploic epidermoid cyst with clinical and radiologic features and surgical treatment. It is important to consider this diagnosis for a patient with persistent regional headache with or without a growing scalp mass.

Background and Objectives: In recent years, brain organoid technologies have been the most innovative advance inneural differentiation research. In line with this, we optimized a method to establish cerebral organoids from feeder-free cultured human pluripotent stem cells. In this study, we focused on the consistent and robust production of cerebral organoids comprising neural progenitor cells and neurons. We propose an optimal protocol for cerebral organoid generation that is applicable to both human embryonic stem cells and human induced pluripotent stem cells. Methods: and Results: We investigated formation of neuroepithelium, neural tube, and neural folding by observing the morphology of embryoid bodies at each stage during the cerebral organoid differentiation process. Furthermore, we characterized the cerebral organoids via immunocytochemical staining of sectioned organoid samples, which were prepared using a Cryostat and Vibratome. Finally, we established a routine method to generate early cerebral organoids comprising a cortical layer and a neural progenitor zone. Conclusions We developed an optimized methodology for the generation of cerebral organoids using hESCs and hiPSCs. Using this protocol, consistent and efficient cerebral organoids could be obtained from hiPSCs as well as hESCs. Further, the morphology of brain organoids could be analyzed through 2D monitoring via immunostaining and tissue sectioning, or through 3D monitoring by whole tissue staining after clarification.