Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma is a rare entity. Various definitions for spontaneous epidural hematoma have been reported in the literature. The expression of nontraumatic spinal epidural hematoma seems to be less ambiguous and includes idiopathic hematomas and hematomas secondary to coagulopathy, vascular malformations, and tumors. We report three cases of nontraumatic spinal epidural hematomas observed from 1991 to 2000. The causes of the spinal epidural hematomas were not clear in two cases among them, but in the another one case, the cause was determined to be an acquired coagulopathy. We reviewed 24 cases reported in the Korean Journal of Neurosurgery and our three cases with particular emphasis on the various causes such as coagulopathy, vascular malformations and tumors. Among the 27 cases, numerous causes were detected such as three cases of vascular malformation, one case of anticoagulant treatment, five cases of combined lumbar disc herniation, two cases associated with pregnancy and postpartum, one case associated with hypertension, and one case associated with ossification of ligamentum flavum. No causes were detected in the ten cases. The authors reviewed the literature.
Hematoma ; Hematoma, Epidural, Spinal* ; Hypertension ; Ligamentum Flavum ; Neurosurgery ; Postpartum Period ; Pregnancy ; Vascular Malformations

No abstract available.

Clear cell sarcoma of tendon and aponeurosis is a rare malignant tumor. It occurs chiefly in young adults, predominates in women and is most common in the regions of the foot and ankle. We report a case of clear cell sarcoma of tendon and aponeurosis in s 22-year-old man. he pstient had had a asymptomatic, normal skin colored, relativerly hard, dome shsped nodule on the anterior chest for 6 months. Histopsthologic findings revealed uniform pattern composed of compact nests of round or fusiform cells which had clear cytoplasm and were surrounded by delicate framework of fibrocollagenous tissue, and the individual tumor cell had a fairly regular appearance of possessing round to avoid vesicular nucleus with prominent basophilic nucleolus. One year after surgical excision and post operative radiotherapy, there was no recurrence.
Ankle ; Basophils ; Cytoplasm ; Female ; Foot ; Humans ; Radiotherapy ; Recurrence ; Sarcoma, Clear Cell* ; Skin ; Tendons ; Thorax* ; Young Adult

The pattern reversal visual evoked potential(PRVEP) and flash electroretinogram(flash ERG) were performed in 22 patients with optic atrophy. Patients with ophthalmologic problems other than optic atrophy or with systemic disorders were excluded from the analysis The results are as follows: 1. In the 41 eyes of patients with optic atrophy, 39 of them showed abnormal PRVEP, in which all the eyes had no consistent waveform except in one patient 2 eyes with delayed P1 latency. 2. 13 eyes were abnormal in both PRVEP and flash ERG but no eye was abnomnal in flash ERG only 3, Regarding the flash ERG examination, 13 eyes were abnomlal. Of these, there was a period of 1 to 2 years for 1 eye's disease, a period of 2 to 5 years for another eye' disease and after 5 years 11 eyes were diseased. Therefore, it showed that the longer the duration of disease lasted, the more flash ERG abnormalities developed. 4. The abnormalities of PRVEP haxe no significant relationship with the duration of the disease.
Evoked Potentials, Visual* ; Humans ; Optic Atrophy*

No abstract available.
Osteosarcoma* ; Sphenoid Bone*

No abstract available.
Drainage* ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus*

Dental Occlusion ; Humans ; Incisor ; Malocclusion ; Orthognathic Surgery ; Skull ; Skull Base

Hereditary progressive dystonia develope in the first decade of ?life and is characterized by marked diurnal fluctuation of symptoms(dystonic postures and movements), i.e.symptoms aggrevated towards evening and alleviated after sleep. These symptoms and signs responded dramatically to levodopa. With the high incidence of familial cases this disorder is considers to be hereditary, but inheritance is not clear yet. Segawa regarded this disorder as a dystonia different from Parkinson's disease and other types of dystonic movement disorders, thereafter it has been reported under name of hereditary progressive dystonia with marked diurnal fluctuation.
Dystonia* ; Incidence ; Levodopa ; Movement Disorders ; Parkinson Disease ; Posture ; Wills

Paroxysmal choreoathetosis(dyskinesia) is classified into two subtypes: paroxysmal kinesigenic choreoathetosis(PKC) and paroxysmal dystonic choreoathetosis(PDC). PDC consist of attacks of dystonia and /or choreoathetosis during which the patients are dysarthric or anarthric, have irregular clonic movement and dystonic posturing of extremities, and these not precipitated by sudden movement but rather by alocohol, coffee and stress. Attacks are longer (2ninute-4hours), but less frequently(3-4times/day) than PKC, they are not responsive to anticonvulsants(eg, phenytoin, carbamazepine) but controlled by clonazepam.This disease is rare, in the reported families, the transmission was clearly autosomal dominant with high penetrance.
Coffee ; Dystonia ; Extremities ; Humans ; Penetrance ; Phenytoin

As the incidence of victims of traumatic craniocerebral injury in children has increased in modern times, we retrospectively analyzed 103 cases of surgically treated craniocerebral injuries among patients under the age of 15 who were admitted from January 1991 to December 1994. We classified the materials, i.e. 1) cause and incidence of craniocerebral injury, 2) clinical symptoms, 3) diagnosis and operation, 4) outcome and complication, and 5) period of hospitalization. The results were as follows: 1) The male to female ratio was 1.9:1(male patients 68, female patients 35). 2) The incidence peaked at the age of 6 and was mostly distributed from the age of 6 to 10. 3) As for time distribution most of the accidents occurred between 3 and 6 in the afternoon. 4) The main cause of craniocerebral injuries was attributed to traffic accidents (54 cases, 52.4%) and the second most common cause was falls from heights(30 cases, 29.1%). 5) In 85 cases, the Glasgow coma scale 13-15 before operation was observed. 6) Depression fractures were found to be the most common lesion in our cases. 7) In 48 cases(46.6%) a craniotomy was the operative procedure performed and in 40 cases(38.8%) an elevation of the depressed bone was performed. 8) In 93 cases, the Glasgow outcome scale 4-5 after operation was observed. 9) The many sequelae of operation were neurological deficit, cognitive impairent, and post-traumtic seizure. 10) The average period of hospitalization was 18.7 days(s.d=18.1). The cause and incidence of surgically treated pediatric head injuries were similar to those of total pediatric head injuries. A high GCS score at admission predicts a good outcome and fewer sequelae. However, papillary abnormalities and a neurological deficit at admission were poor prognostic factors. This study confirms that pediatric head injuries treated surgically provide better results than in adults.
Accidents, Traffic ; Adult ; Child ; Craniocerebral Trauma* ; Craniotomy ; Depression ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Glasgow Coma Scale ; Glasgow Outcome Scale ; Head* ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures ; Surgical Procedures, Operative