Primary neoplasms of the spinal epidural space are uncommon. One of the rarest of these is a soft tissue sarcoma indistinguishable from Ewing's sarcoma of the bone. Only 39 such cases have been reported previously, of which only three arose within the epidural space. The authors report an additional case, which presented in an atypical manner, and review the pertinent literature.

Adult↗

PubMed1979

Metastasis of prostatic adenocarcinoma simulating a falx meningioma.

A 56-year-old man, with known metastatic carcinoma of the prostate, presented with a single Jacksonian seizure. Examination revealed a tumor of the falx cerebri which demonstrated many characteristics of a meningioma. Although exceedingly rare, the tumor proved to be a meningeal metastasis of the prostatic adenocarcinoma. The relevant literature is reviewed.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed1978

Glossopharyngeal schwannomas.

Glossopharyngeal schwannomas are rare entities. Our recent experience with three such cases treated successfully, suggests that recognitton of this tumor as a discrete entity is both desirable and feasible. Although this tumor shares with the far more common acoustic schwannoma the presenting symptom of hearing loss, it may be distinguished by an elicitable history of hoarseness, demonstration of abnormal palatal function and absence of expected findings upons standard radiographic examination of the petrous bones and internal auditory canal. We have found that identification of this tumor may be accomplished with currently available diagnostic technics, including computerized tomography. The authors review the literature and report their experiences regarding preoperative assessment, operative technic and the postoperative course.

Adult↗

PubMed1976

Some fundamental applications of the Law of La Place in Neurosurgery.

The Law of La Place is a simple principle of physics, applicable to any fluid-filled vessel, relating stress on the wall of the vessel to the radius and transmural pressure. This principle has major implications for neurosurgery and examples are provided relating La Place's Principle to the genesis and treatment of hydrocephalus, the surgical clipping of cerebral aneurysms and the technic of surgical sponge hemostatis.

Biophysical Phenomena↗