Biomedical subjects

Andrei Koerbel

Publications and source records attributed to Andrei Koerbel.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2002

Primary pituitary abscess: case report.

Pituitary abscesses are potentially life-threatening lesions if not appropriately diagnosed and treated. The authors have operated on more than five hundred cases of pituitary tumors and only one represented a case of pituitary abscess. A 35-year-old woman was investigated for chronic frontal headache. CT scan showed a cystic sellar lesion with ring enhancement after contrast injection leading to an initial diagnosis of pituitary adenoma. She underwent a sublabial transsphenoidal approach to the pituitary gland. After dural opening, purulent material was obtained and no tumor or other associated lesion was detected. There was no evidence of current or previous septicemic illness, meningitis, cavernous sinus thrombosis or sinus infection. Cultures were negative. She was put on antibiotics and discharged after 4 weeks. Nowadays, 10 years after treatment, she is doing well, with no anterior pituitary hormone deficit. MRI shows a partially empty sella without residual lesion and the pituitary stalck is in the midline. The early diagnosis and adequate treatment of this life-threatening lesion may result in excellent prognosis.

Abscess↗

PubMed2002

[Prognostic factors in the treatment of intramedullary spinal cord tumors].

Between 1993 and 1999, in the Divisions of Neurosurgery of the Hospital Nossa Senhora das Graças and the Hospital de Clínicas in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil, 35 patients harboring intramedullary spinal cord tumors who were submitted to microsurgery were analyzed. There were 24 males (68.6%) and average age was 32.9 years. The main location, with 40% of cases, was the thoracic level, followed by cervical and cervico-thoracic levels with 25.7%. Neurological exam, carried out between 6 and 12 months after surgery, showed that 42.9% of patients improved, 34.3% were stable and 22.9% presented neurological worsening. Total resection was obtained in 57.2% of cases and subtotal in 37.1%. In 5.7% of patients a biopsy was the accomplished procedure. Total resection was more often obtained among patients with ependymomas (13 out of 17) than with astrocytomas (5 out of 12). However, degree of resection and tumor histology did not interfere in postoperative morbidity. Factors as sex, age and tumor's size also did not demonstrate significance in predicting prognostic after surgery, whereas tumor in a thoracic level was associated with higher morbidity (p=0.021).

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

[Central nervous system granulocytic sarcoma after bone marrow transplant: case report].

Granulocytic sarcoma is a solid tumor, composed by granulocytic precursor cells at various levels of differentiation, located at an extra-medullary site. It is associated with acute myeloid leukemia, and its presence reveals a bad prognostic factor. The treatment usually consists of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. A case of an intracranial granulocytic sarcoma occurring six months after a bone marrow transplant in a patient with acute myeloid leukemia is reported. The patient presented with headache and left hemiplegia caused by a large fronto-parietal lesion with significant mass effect. After a complete surgical resection there was a full recovery of the deficit. The patient completed radiotherapy and chemotherapy with no evidence of disease after three months of follow-up. Surgery is indicated in the presence of progressive neurological deficit. Surgical decompression may provide rapid improvement and therefore, affect quality of survival.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cerebellopontine angle arachnoid cyst harbouring ectopic neuroglia.

Arachnoid cysts are collections of cerebrospinal fluid covered by arachnoidal cells and collagen. They may have a congenital or acquired origin. We present the case of a 7-year-old boy with a cerebellopontine angle arachnoid cyst harbouring a portion of neuroglia. Microscopically, the cyst wall consisted of a delicate fibrovascular membrane lined by a layer of arachnoidal cells. A thin layer of glial tissue ran the whole length of the cyst wall. This finding supports a congenital origin for this case. Cerebellopontine angle arachnoid cysts harbouring neuroglia without ependymal elements are very rare lesions and may be successfully treated by surgical resection.

Arachnoid Cysts↗