• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.166-169
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• 2008

Sacral insufficiency fractures are usually known to develop in elderly patients with osteoporosis without definite trauma history. It is difficult to diagnose the sacral insufficiency fracture at an early stage because lower lumbar diseases. concurrently or not, may also be presented with similar symptoms and signs. We report a rare case of sacral insufficiency fracture who was not diagnosed initially but, instead, showed progressively worsening of clinical symptoms and radiological findings after decompression surgery for upper level lumbar stenosis.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.174-177
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• 2008

Symptomatic sacral perineural cysts are uncommon. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the etiologies of perineural cysts, but the accurate etiologies remain unclear. We experienced two cases of symptomatic sacral perineural cysts (Tarlov cysts) in one family, who presented with perianal paresthesia. Both of them were operated and postoperatively their symptoms were disappeared immediately. We experienced the excellent treatment outcome with the surgical management of symptomatic perineural cysts in the sacral region. We assume that the theory of congenital origin including a familial tendency is the most plausible of the hypotheses that have been proposed.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.94-97
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• 2017

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are rare, but are the most common mesenchymal neoplasm of the gastrointestinal tract. The most common sites of metastasis are liver and peritoneum, while bone metastasis is rare. We report on a patient with skull metastasis after seven years of treatment with imatinib for metastatic GIST. She underwent metastasectomy consisting of craniectomy with excision of the mass, and cranioplasty and continued treatment with imatinib and sunitinib, without evidence of cranial recurrence. She died of pneumonia sepsis one year after metastasectomy. Skull metastasis of GIST is a very rare presentation, and an aggressive multidisciplinary approach should be considered whenever possible.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.790-794
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• 2001

Spinal osteochondroms are very rare, and are thought to arise through a process of progressive endochondral ossification of aberrant cartilage of a growth plate, as a consequence of congenital defect or trauma. A case of diffuse type osteochondroma involving the posterior elements of L1-L5 that progressed after laminectomy in a 33-year-old man is reported. Usually, the spinal osteochondroma shows clear demarcation between tumor margin and normal spine elements, and can be exised completely. However, there was no clear demarcation between tumor and normal spine element in our case and therefore it was not possible to removal completely.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.127-129
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• 2007

Two unusual cases of traumatic spondyloptosis of the cervical spine at the C7-T1 level are reported. One patient was treated with a single-stage combined anterior-posterior and anterior operation to achieve realignment of the cervical spondyloptosis, decompression of the spinal cord and keep of a three-column stabilization of the spine. The other patient was treated with conservative management that consisted of a rigid neck collar and pain control for two months. The patients were managed successfully and both had good neurological outcomes. We present here a summary of the clinical presentations, the surgical technique and results, and a review of the relevant literature.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.647-651
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• 2001

Trilateral retinoblastoma is a syndrome involving midline intracranial malignancies in children with the heritable form of retinoblastoma. It is rare and usually lethal in spite of aggressive treatments. We report a case of trilateral retinoblastoma with review of the literature to gain further insight into this uncommon disease.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.273-276
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• 2012

Metronidazole-induced encephalopathy is a very rare complication of the long standing use of metronidazole. The encephalopathy is bilateral and symmetric in nature. We report on the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical course of metronidazole-induced encephalopathy in a 60-year-old female with a persistent anaerobic brain abscess after draining of the abscess. After 3 months of metronidazole administration, the patient complained of dysarthria, tingling sense of all extremities, and left hemiparesis. MRI revealed symmetric hyperintensity lesions in medulla, pons, dentate nuclei of cerebellum, and splenium of corpus callosum, all of which represent typical findings of metronidazole-induced encephalopathy. In addition, asymmetric lesions in midbrain, thalamus, putamen and cerebral subcortical white matter were noted. The patient recovered after discontinuation of metronidazole and the remaining abscess was successfully treated with meropenem and levofloxacine.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.216-219
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• 2007

Lymphocytic hypophysitis is a clinically rare disease, and it has been known to be an autoimmune disease which mainly affects pregnant women at the end of gestation or right after delivery. The authors experienced a case of lymphocytic hypophysitis in a 29-year-old pregnant woman with rapid progressing visual disturbance. Sella MRI showed a mass-like lesion of hypophysis and hypertrophy of pituitary stalk with evidences of hypopituitarism. Cesarean section was done and then TSA was performed. The pathologic diagnosis was lymphocytic hypophysitis. After TSA, visual acuity was improved and visual field defect was recovered. She was given thyroid hormone replacement therapy because of transient partial hypopituitarism for 6 months after surgery. One must consider the probability of lymphocytic hypophysitis, if there are alteration of visual acuity and visual field defect which aggravate rapidly during pregnancy due to mass effect, decreased serum hormonal levels shown in hypopituitarism and sella MRI findings of hypertrophy of pituitary stalk and enlargement of pituitary gland.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.57-60
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• 2014

Rhabdoid tumor of the kidney (RTK) is a rare malignancy in infancy. Central nervous system involvement in RTK is already known. However, solitary spinal metastasis in RTK has been hardly reported. The authors report a case of metastatic RTK to spine causing paraplegia in an 8-month-old girl. Since the patient was young, the diagnosis of spine metastasis was delayed until paraplegia was seen after radical nephrectomy. Thorough neurological examination should be performed for early diagnosis of spinal metastasis in young patients with RTK. If there are any abnormal signs in neurologic examination, magnetic resonance images of brain and spine are recommended.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.378-381
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• 2006

A 65-year-old woman presented with a history of severe lower back pain on forward-flexion for 2 months duration. Magnetic resonance Imaging revealed a high signal mass with a tail on T1-weighted images at the L3 level. A total surgical resection was performed via a posterior approach with the aid of a microscope. Histopathological examination of the tumor revealed two pathological components : lipoma and myxopapillary ependymoma. The presence of dual histological components in one spinal cord tumor is rare. There are no prior reports of both types of cells [adipose and ependymal] grown simultaneously in a single tumor of the filum terminale in the medical literature. We report a unique case of the co-existence of lipoma and myxopapillary ependymoma within the same tumor located at the filum terminale and review related literature.