Duraplasty is necessary in nearly 30% of all neurological surgeries. Different tissues and materials have been evaluated in dura mater repair or as dural substitutes in neurosurgery. The aim was to evaluate the biocompatibility of the bacterial cellulose (BC) membranes, produced from sugarcane molasses, for dural defect repair in rats. Forty adults males Wistar rats divided into two groups: a control (ePTFE) and an experimental (BC). Bilateral frontoparietal craniectomy was performed, and a dural defect was created. The arachnoid underlying defect was disrupted with a narrow hook. The animals were observed for 120 days. There were no cases of infection, cerebrospinal fluid fistulae, delayed hemorrhages, behavior disturbances, seizures and palsies. The BC membrane showed to have suitable biocompatibility properties, was not induced immune reaction, nor chronic inflammatory response and absence of neurotoxicity signals.

The findings demonstrate higher efficacy of the 10% NaCl treatment in this comparison with 20% mannitol. Further efforts should be directed toward development of clinical studies using iso-osmotic doses of mannitol and HS in specific etiologies of intracranial hypertension.

-the Manson's schistosomiasis tumoral form rarely affects the brain. there are only 12 cases prior related with a mean age of 25 years and a male predominance. We describe a 16-year-old Brazilian Northeastern boy with a cerebellar mass lesion. the radiological aspect was considered compatible with glioma and a gross total resection was performed. Microscopic examination disclosed intraparenchymal granulomas surrounding Schistosoma mansoni eggs. the case is compared with the literature findings and some peculiar aspects of this trematode infection are reviewed.Key Words: schistosomiasis, tumor, cerebellum.esquistossomose mansônica apresentando-se como tumor cerebelar: relato de caso resuMo -A forma pseudotumoral da esquistossomose mansônica raramente acomete o encéfalo. Apenas 12 casos foram previamente descritos com idade média de 25 anos e predominância do sexo masculino. relatamos um caso em paciente do nordeste brasileiro de 16 anos portador de lesão expansiva cerebelar. o aspecto radiológico foi considerado compatível com tumor cerebelar primário e ressecção radical realizada. estudo histopatológico demonstrou granulomas intraparenquimatosos contornando ovos de Schistosoma mansoni. o caso é comparado com os achados da literatura e aspectos peculiares dessa neuropasitose são discutidos.PAlAvrAs-ChAve: esquistossomose, tumor, cerebelo. department of Neurosurgery, restauração hospital, recife Pe, Brazil.

The Guidelines Project, an initiative of the Brazilian Medical Association, aims to combine information from the medical field in order to standardize procedures to assist the reasoning and decision-making of doctors. The information provided through this project must be assessed and criticized by the physician responsible for the conduct that will be adopted, depending on the conditions and the clinical status of each patient.

RESUMO PALAVRA-CHAVEAbscesso epidural raquiano. Apesar do desenvolvimento das modernas técnicas de investigação por imagem, retardo importante no diagnóstico continua ocorrendo 19 . ABSTRACT Pyogenic epidural spinal abscess in adolescents. Report of three cases The nontuberculous epidural spinal abscess is a rare form of spinal infection in the first decades of life. Despite the recent increase in its incidence, the reports in ourEm nosso meio há poucos relatos dessa entidade, sobretudo em relação ao acometimento de crianças e adolescentes 5,22 .Relatamos três casos que refletem a experiência com adolescentes do Serviço de Neurocirurgia do Hospital da Restauração, Recife, PE, nos últimos 4 anos. Relato dos casos Caso 1Criança do sexo feminino e 10 anos de idade foi admitida na UTI pediátrica de nosso serviço com quadro de sepse, apresentando múltiplos abscessos cutâneos e paraplegia crural com nível sensitivo em T4. Encontrava-se aos cuidados de outro serviço com um suposto diagnóstico de polirradiculoneurite.Foi indicada tomografia computadorizada torácica que demonstrou coleção paravertebral com extensão

No abstract

Tuberculosis is endemic in developing countries. However, calvarial tuberculosis is rare and only few cases have been reported with computed tomographic findings. We report on a 49-year-old woman with a occipital painless nodule. The microscopic examination indicated typical tuberculosis granulomas. Clinical presentation and management are discussed.

The cerebrovascular disease (CVD) during the childhood is rare and interferes drastically in the development of child. The aim of this study is to relate the neu-ropsychological findings in children with ischemic or hemorrhagic CVD, to variables that interfere in the disease , for example: recurrence, etiology, the age of the installation. Thirty-two children with prior history of ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, of both sexes in the age group from 6 to 16 years, were subdued to an neuropsychological, intellectual , visual-motor, school performance, cerebral blood flow evaluation; among others, the sample was selected from the Group of Studies in CVD in childhood and adolescence database of the HC of UNICAMP. Twenty-five children also the hemorrhagic with 31.25%, there was no difference in relation of sex, recurrence, seizures and the age of installation of the CVA. It was noticed that 87% grew with motor sequelae and 34.3% with an intellectual reduction. The intellectual performance was more damaged facing these situations: sickle cell disease, premature age of the installation, recurrence, evolution of convulsive crisis , two hemispheres attacked, cortical-subcortical lesion and motor sequelae. It was checked, 18.7% of the children in the experimental group could not respond to the battery of instruments, suggesting that the lesion in the cor-tical an subcortical areas in early age produced severe cognitive damages. Background: Duraplasty is necessary in nearly 30% of all neurological surgeries. Objective: To determine the utilization of the sugar cane biopolymer membrane patch as a dural substitute in rats. Method: Forty adults males Wistar rats weighing 300-440g were randomly divided into two groups: a control and an experimental. All animals were anesthetized with an intraperitoneal injection of chloral hydrate in solution of 10%, and placed in a prone position. Bilateral frontopa-rietal craniectomy was performed, and a dural defect was created. The arachnoid underlying defect was disrupted with a narrow hook. In the control animals, the defect was repaired with a disc of ePTFE. The experimental group received a membrane of sugar cane biopolymer over the cerebral cortex. No sutures in the dural patch were used in all cases. At the end of the procedure, the scalp was closed primarily in two layers. The rats were killed at 120 days. The heads were fixed by an intra-arterial injection of 10% formalin solution, followed by immersion in 10% for-malin solution. After seven days of fixation, the specimens were embedded in paraffin, and the dural substitute and subjacent brain were collected en bloc. Histological sections of the biopsies were stained with hematoxilyn/eo-sin and evaluation was performed comparing healing and inflammatory reaction. Results: All the animals survived to the period of 120 days to clinical observation. There were no cases of infection , cerebrospinal fluid fistulae, delayed hemorrhages , behavior disturbances, seizures and palsies. The histo-pathological changes of leptomeninges were semi...