Pineoblastomas are malignant embryonal tumours that are classified as suprasellar primitive neuroectodermal tumours. Incidence of pineoblastoma is approximately 0.1% to 0.3% of histogically verified primary malignant brain tumours. This case report concerns a 19-year-old male with a mass lesion in an area posterior to third ventricle, which was diagnosed as pineoblastoma. He achieved complete r...

Schwannomas or neurilemomas are the most frequent nerve sheath tumours and could be mistaken for a nerve abscess of leprosy as presented in this case report. These tumours may affect any nerve in the body mainly in the flexor surfaces of limb and nerve trunks, often at origin of spinal or cranial nerves. They usually grow slowly and appear as painless swellings for several years before being di...

The transoral approach to clivus and upper cervical region is a direct route for treating pathology ventral to the brainstem and upper cervical spinal cord with low morbidity and mortality rates. This approach may be used for congenital atlanto-axial dislocation, fracture dislocation, vertebrobasilar aneurysms, basilar invagination, compressive rheumatoid pannus and tumours of the craniovertebr...

Schwannomas are rare benign tumours of nerve sheath cells of neural crest origin. Often these tumours are solitary and encapsulated. Multiple schwannomas can arise from the peripheral nervous system including cranial nerves, spinal roots, the brachial and lumbar-sacral plexus or major peripheral nerves. We report an extremely rare case of schwannomatosis of the sciatic nerve in a young female a...

A 68-year-old woman presents with a history of pain in the region of her thumb. This is her radiograph (Fig. 1). 1. Describe the radiograph. What is the diagnosis? Answer: The radiograph of the wrist shows evidence of decreased joint space and subchondral sclerosis of the joints between the scaphoid, the trapezium and the trapezoid. The diagnosis is arthritis of the scapho-trapezio-trapezoid (S...

A case of neurofibroma of the filum terminale associated with syringomyelia is described. The relationship of spinal cord tumours and syringomyelia is discussed and a possible mode of formation of the syrinx in the present case is suggested.

We have studied the long-term endocrine effects of treatment on 144 children treated for brain tumours. All received cranial irradiation, 86 also received spinal irradiation and 34 chemotherapy. Almost all patients (140 of 144) had evidence of growth hormone insufficiency. Treatment with growth hormone was effective in maintaining normal growth but could not restore a deficit incurred by delay ...