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This article reports on the journey of a child with an inoperable hypothalamic-origin pilocytic astrocytoma causing hydrocephalus, which was refractory to treatment with shunts, and required a new approach. With multidisciplinary support, excellent nursing care and parental education, the child's hydrocephalus was managed long term in the community with bilateral long-tunnelled external ventricular drains (LTEVDs). This article describes the patient's journey and highlights the treatment protocols that were created to achieve this feat. Despite the difficulties in initially setting up these protocols, they proved successful and thus the team managing the patient proposed that LTEVDs are a viable treatment option for children with hydrocephalus in the context of inoperable tumours to help maximise quality of life.

Since the past, art has been used as a tool to elaborate anatomical knowledge and guide surgeons to perform surgeries. Through the eras, art has taken role by conveying the knowledge to people in forms of illustrations and models, including neuroanatomy knowledge for neurosurgical purposes. With the advancement of technology, neurosurgical trainings and care evolve more than before.

Head lice or pediculosis is recognized as an increasing problem in medical practice (Downs et al, 1999). Secondary bacterial infections can occur in patients with infestation. In neurosurgical patients, head lice infestation may be a potential risk factor for peri-operative complications. Secondary infection could further complicate neurosurgical wounds with subsequent complications. The authors discuss epidemiology, pathogenesis of potential peri-operative complications resulting from pediculosis and methodology of treatment of this common condition. The importance of early recognition and prompt treatment in patients with neurological diseases is highlighted. A simple algorithm to treat scalp pediculosis is suggested.

Smoking is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and is responsible for the death of more than 8 million people per year globally. Through a systematic literature review, we aim to review the harmful effects of tobacco smoking on degenerative spinal diseases (DSD). DSD is a debilitating disease and there is a need to identify if smoking can be an attributable contender for the occurrence of this disease, as it can open up avenues for therapeutic options. Sources such as PubMed and Embase were used to review literature, maintaining tobacco smoking and spinal diseases as inclusion factors, excluding any article that did not explore this relationship. Risk of bias was assessed using analysis of results, sample size and methods and limitations. Upon review of the literature, tobacco smoking was found to be a major risk factor for the occurrence of DSDs, particularly lumbar spinal diseases. Smokers also experienced a greater need for surgery and greater postoperative wound healing complications, increased pain perception, delay in recovery and decreased satisfaction after receiving surgery. These effects were noted along the entire spine. Many mechanisms of action have been identified in the literature that provide plausible pictures of how smoking leads to spinal degeneration, exploring possible primary targets which can open up opportunities to develop potential therapeutic agents. More studies on cervical and thoracic spinal degeneration would be beneficial in identifying the effect of nicotine on these spinal levels. Some limitations included insufficient sample size, inconclusive evidence and lack of sufficient repeat studies. However, there appears to be a sufficient amount of research on smoking directly contributing to lumbar spinal pathology.

We present a case of herpes zoster infection (shingles) precipitated by surgical manipulation of the trigeminal nerve root during an attempted microvascular decompression procedure. The pathogenesis of this phenomenon, as well as the importance and role of prophylactic acyclovir in its management, are discussed.

The authors report a rare case of primary spinal ependymomatosis in a young adult man. Multiple primary ependymomatous lesions were seen on magnetic resonance imaging and no anaplasia was identified on the surgical-pathological analysis. The aetio-pathological mechanism and surgical significance of this rare occurrence is discussed.