✓ Spinal instability may be a cause of juxtafacet cyst formation and the pain and disability that occur after surgical excision of the cyst. To determine the role of instability, a retrospective review of charts identified 60 facet cysts in 56 patients treated over a 6-year period. Three patients developed an asynchronous cyst at the same level but on the opposite side of the previously resected cyst and one patient had a recurrent cyst in the same location. Forty-one cysts were present in patients with radiculopathy and 16 in patients with neurogenic claudication. Two patients presented with myelopathy and one had cauda equina syndrome. Thirty-six of the 60 cysts were located at L4–5, the most mobile segment. Fifteen patients had spondylolisthesis, of whom two experienced worsening spondylolisthesis postoperatively. Seven patients had scoliosis and 20 had systemic arthritis. Fifty-five cysts were resected via mesial facetectomy. Six of the patients undergoing this procedure had transverse process fusions at initial surgery for preoperative instability. Two others required fusion for postoperative instability and increased spondylolisthesis. Follow-up review was available in 95% of patients with an average duration of 12 months. Forty patients had excellent relief of symptoms, 12 had occasional back pain, and one patient did poorly. Flexion/extension views of the spine are recommended both pre- and postoperatively to identify the need for fusion in patients with juxtafacet cysts.

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Over the past 4 years, 7.4% of deaths caused by strangulation in Peoria County, Ill., involved children under 18 years of age. Clinical review of a consecutive series of 13 children treated from 1985 through 1994 revealed an incidence of 32 of 10,000 intensive care unit admissions with a 5.5:1 male bias. Accidental causes were seen in six children, with suicide or autoerotic causes prevalent in older children and adolescents. Five children had behavioral disorders before injury. The initial Glasgow Coma Scale score was 8 or below in seven children. Cervical roentgenograms in all patients and computed tomographic examinations performed in seven children were interpreted as normal. Seven children required ventilatory assistance, and four had pneumonia or acute lung injury. Intracranial pressure monitoring in three children failed to reveal sustained elevations of pressure. Serial changes in electroencephalograms in five patients paralleled improvements in their clinical examinations. Ten children were normal on follow-up; one adolescent reported mild neurologic sequelae and one adolescent showed severe disability. One adolescent died 2 days after injury. Comparison of this series with previous reports of 26 children indicated that the extent of the initial injury and effectiveness of resuscitation were major determinates for outcome. Pulmonary complications were common, whereas the development of elevated intracranial pressure indicated a poor prognosis and suggested the use of telemetry in children, with clinical evidence of severe injury. Continued awareness of preventative measures for accidental strangulation in infants and intentional hanging in children with behavioral disorders may reduce the incidence of these injuries.

The cerebrovascular hemodynamics were recorded in two children with comparable hypoxic-ischemic injuries after strangulation. Monitoring was initiated within 13 hours of injury and continued for at least 38 hours. The profile included continuous measurements of cortical regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) with a subdural thermal diffusion probe, intracranial pressure, mean arterial pressure, and expired CO2 tension. Data sets were obtained every 15 minutes or every 5 minutes during epochs of hyperventilation and inotropic support. Arterial CO2 and oxygen content and pH and, in the second patient, cardiac output (and cardiac index) were determined every 3 to 6 hours. Both children showed cortical hyperemia with a gradual rise of rCBF during the study; neither child showed elevated intracranial pressure. Mean CO2 reactivities were 1.8 and 2.1 mL/100 g/minute/mm Hg, with gradual elevations during the study. Mean cerebrovascular resistances were 0.7 and 0.9 mL/100 g/minute/mm Hg, respectively. Dissociative vasoparalysis with loss of autoregulation and preservation of CO2 reactivity was observed in both children. In the second child, during two periods of hyperventilation, an inverse steal occurred with rCBF indirectly related to expired CO2 tension; the rCBF was not related to changes in cardiac output or cardiac index. Neurologic outcome was not related to mean levels of rCBF, CPP, and CO2 reactivity, or clinical dissociative vasoparalysis. Lower initial and mean values of rCBF and an inverse steal after hyperventilation were associated with a poor outcome in the second patient.

Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of an 85-year-old woman with bitemporal headaches revealed cystic lesions in the basal ganglia and cerebellum. The patient remained neurologically asymptomatic until just before her death at age 89. Autopsy revealed tumors of the brain, lungs, liver, periaortic lymph nodes, adrenal gland, and the pancreas. Light microscopy demonstrated a malignant small cell tumor with scant cytoplasm. Electron microscopy revealed intracytoplasmic dense core vesicles, characteristic of neuroendocrine tumors, which prompted the diagnosis of islet cell carcinoma. All lesions were found to be microscopically similar. Previous reports of islet cell carcinoma metastatic to the brain could not be found. This case emphasizes the importance of electron microscopy in cases of small cell neoplasms in the brain.

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