The occipital sinus (OS) lies in the attached margin of the faix cerebelli in the internal occipital crest of the occipital bone. The OS extends from the foramen magnum to the confluence of sinuses. Standard textbooks and research reports do not describe in detail any variation in the groove for the occipital sinus.
A case is described of subdural spinal lipoma with posterior fossa extension and the world literature is reviewed. A high proportion of high cervical lipomas extend into the posterior cranial fossa. Many cases were probably missed in the pre-computed tomography era. Those cases with posterior fossa growth are more likely to be found in infants or those cases with symptoms dating from birth; most present with quadriparesis. All cases of high cervical lipoma demonstrated by myelography should be submitted to brain computed tomography in order to exclude posterior fossa extension and demonstrate the presence of hydrocephalus.
Variations of the dural folds and the dural venous sinuses are infrequently reported in the existing medical literature. Such variations in the posterior cranial fossa may pose difficulties in various analytical and surgical procedures of this region. We present a rare concurrent variation of the falx cerebelli and tentorium cerebelli that was detected during routine dissection of an adult male cadaver. While removing the brain, a partial duplication of tentorium cerebelli was observed below the left half of the tentorium cerebelli and above the left cerebellar hemisphere. This fold did not have any dural venous sinus in it. Further, a complete duplication of falx cerebelli with a single occipital venous sinus within its attached border was also observed. We present the review of literature and discuss the comparative anatomy of this case.
Clival chordoma is a rare primary bone tumour that arises from the remnant of the notochord and typically occurs in older adults. Upon imaging, the tumour can be seen arising from the clivus and causes clival destruction. This usually provides insight for a diagnosis. Here we present a case of a non-enhancing, pre-pontine mass that was hypointense on T1W and hyperintense on T2W in an adolescent. No clival bone erosion was observed. Based on the age group, imaging findings, and lack of clival erosion, a provisional diagnosis of epidermoid cyst was made and the tumour was resected. This patient was eventually diagnosed with a clival chordoma based on histopathological examination.
Primary central nervous system (CNS) atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumours (ATRT) are highly malignant neoplasms which usually present in infancy or early childhood. Although ATRT may arise anywhere within the CNS, the majority (approximately two-thirds) arise in the cerebellum or posterior fossa, and the remainder in the cerebrum. We described the imaging characteristics of CNS ATRT in the posterior cranial fossa of a 14-month-old boy.
Following craniotomy for an atypical rhabdoid tumour of the posterior cranial fossa, a fourteen-month-old boy developed a ventriculitis with methicillin resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE) which is associated with the use of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. Treatment with intravenous vancomycin resulted in a severe allergic skin reaction. Substitution with intravenous teicoplanin resulted in negative blood culture and MRSE ventriculitis was successfully eradicated with concomitant use of intraventricular teicoplanin. No signs of recurrent infection or adverse events occurred. Intraventricular teicoplanin is safe and effective for the treatment of staphylococcal neurosurgical shunt infections.
Esthesioneuroblastoma is a rare malignant neoplasm of oflactory neuroepithelium and usually located at the olfactory cleft at superior nasal cavity. Ectopic localization of esthesioneuroblastoma is even rarer and usually posed with a diagnostic dilemma and delay in the diagnosis and management, We report a rare case of ectopic esthesioneuroblastoma of the sphenoclivus with the presentation of intermittent unilateral epistaxis, intermittent intractable headache without anosmia. Nasal endoscopy findings showed a pulsatile mass at the anterior face of the sphenoid sinus with extension posteriorly towards the clivus region and occupying the floor of the sphenoid sinus. Endonasal transclival endoscopic excision of tumour was performed which involved otorhinolaryngology surgeon and neurosurgeon with intraoperative navigation imaging and frozen section. The histopathological findings was esthesioneuroblastoma. Due to its rarity and unusual presentation, the diagnosis of ectopic esthesioneuroblastoma is difficult and can be misdiagnosed with the other type of malignancy. Therefore, the histopathological result is important in confirming the type of tumour and can lead to the next step of management.
We report one case of posterior fossa intracranial haemorrhage in a full-term Malay baby boy following vacuum assisted delivery. The patient, a term baby boy was delivered by a vacuum extraction and later developed signs of increased intracranial pressure 72 hours after birth. Computed tomography (CT) of the brain showed a posterior fossa intracranial haemorrhage with acute obstructive hydrocephalus. He was initially treated with isolated ventricular shunting which later caused an upward cerebellar herniation. An immediate suboccipital craniectomy for evacuation of cerebellar haematoma was performed which resulted in a gradual recovery.