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To study the cognitive profile and scholastic performance of children with parenchymal neurocysticercosis. A total of 500 children with a diagnosis of neurocysticercosis and epilepsy registered in our pediatric neurocysticercosis clinic between January 1996 and December 2002 were enrolled. Patients were evaluated for their scholastic performance using their school grades. Cognitive assessment was done using Parental interview and the “Draw-a-Man” test. Poor scholastic performance was seen in 22.2% (111) children. Draw-a-Man test was done in 148 children; 18.2% (27/148) had scores equivalent to IQ

Background Pituitary ependymoma is exceptionally rare. Its etiology, clinical presentation, radiologic feature, and treatment strategy are still a matter of debate. Only 7 human cases with limited data were reported in the English literature, and now we described another case of pituitary ependymoma. We also systematically reviewed previously reported cases and described its potential etiology, clinical presentation, radiologic features, pathology, immunohistochemical analysis, and ultrastructural examinations. Case Description A lesion in pituitary fossa was discovered in a 40-year-old man after suffering a progressive deterioration of vision in his right eye for >1 year with intermittent headache. The lesion was microsurgically resected and proved to be ependymoma upon pathologic and histologic examination. The patient made a fully recovery after surgery. Conclusions To our knowledge, only 7 patients with ependymoma in the sellar region have been described in the English literature. We reported 1 more case of pituitary ependymoma and discussed the potential etiology, clinical presentation, radiologic features, pathology, immunohistochemical analysis, ultrastructural examinations, treatment, surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and prognosis of pituitary ependymoma. The case report may serve as a helpful reference for clinicians and radiologists.

Chronic overdrainage affects shunted patients producing a variety of symptoms that may be misdiagnosed. The best known symptoms are so-called shunt-related headaches. There is mounting evidence that changes in cerebrospinal venous system dynamics are a key factor to the pathophysiology of chronic overdrainage syndrome. We report the case of a 29-year-old woman with a shunt since the postnatal period suffering from chronic but the most severe intermittent headache attacks, despite an open shunt and with unchanged ventricular width during attacks. Intracranial pressure (ICP) recordings were performed during headache attacks and thereafter. Massively increased ICPs, a continuous B wave “storm,” and severely compromised intracranial compliance despite an open shunt were found, a scenario that was always self-limiting with the resolution of symptoms after several hours. When mobilized to the upright position, her ICPs dropped to − 17 mm Hg, proving shunt overdrainage. Symptomatology can only be explained by sudden venous entrapment following chronic venous distention as a result of chronic overdrainage. Subsequent therapeutic management with an overdrainage preventing shunt and satisfying clinical outcome with complete ceasing of headache attacks adds insight into the pathophysiology of chronic overdrainage syndrome.

Keywords: cerebral herniation; giant arachnoid granulation; advanced MR imaging; headache

A young adult male was referred by his optometrist for suspected papilloedema. He complained of a 4-week history of intermittent headache and a 2-day history of blurred vision in his right eye. There were no postural variation in symptom intensity, pulsatile tinnitus or additional neurological symptoms. A recent CT scan of the head (arranged by his general practitioner) had shown no intracranial space-occupying lesions. On examination, Snellen visual acuities were 20/30 on the right and 20/20 on the left. There was no relative afferent pupillary defect, and examinations of colour vision, cranial nerve and anterior ocular segments were normal. Funduscopy showed bilateral optic nerve head …

A 27-year-old woman presented with a six-month history of intermittent headache and a 2-week history of blurring of vision. Subsequently a 4 cm large enhancing lesion in the left frontal parafalcine region with a small extension into the nasoethmoid sinus was found. This was thought to be either an anterior cranial fossa meningioma or an esthesioblastoma. However after uneventful gross total excision of this lesion via a frontal craniotomy, the histology came back as a schwannoma. Only seven cases of nasoethmoid schwannoma with intracranial extension have been reported before and this case is unique in that almost all of the tumour was intracranial. We review the literature and discuss the origin of these tumours.

We report the details of a patient with an intracisternal schwannoma that developed from the spinal accessory nerve. The patient, a 70-year-old women, presented with a 5-year history of intermittent headache and neck pain. A 3.2 x 2.5 cm partially cystic mass was found in the right cervicomedullary cistern. It was removed through a far-lateral inferior suboccipital craniotomy using image-guidance. The tumor arose from one rootlet of the right accessory nerve and histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of a schwannoma. Removal of the schwannoma did not result in a significant neurological deficit.

Headache is one of the chief complaints among patients visiting primary care physicians. The aim of the current study is to report on a case of daily intermittent headaches in a patient with idiopathic cyclic edema. Over three years the patient suffered from headaches that started and improved at specific times. They began at about 5 to 6 o’clock in the morning and spontaneously disappeared 3 to 4 hours after getting up and thus were directly associated to sleep. The patient complained of generalized edema and had weight differences of about two kilograms between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. A hypothesis of idiopathic cyclic edema was reached and the patient was prescribed aminaphtone which cured the headaches within two days after initiating treatment.

SUMMARY: A 50-year-old woman presented with intermittent headache for the past few years. A paranasal sinus CT scan showed a diffusely calcified lesion at the roof of the sphenoid sinus and sella turcica, with the sellar floor bony cortex involved. Empty sella was noted. MR imaging revealed a soft-tissue lesion with low signal intensity on T1-weighted images, high signal intensity on T2-weighted images, and heterogeneous enhancement on postgadolinium images. Histologic examination revealed an osteoma composed of mature lamellar bone.