Ancient oceanic archipelagos of similar geological age are expected to accrue comparable numbers of endemic lineages with identical life history strategies, especially if the islands exhibit analogous habitats. We tested this hypothesis using marine snails of the genus Conus from the Atlantic archipelagos of Cape Verde and Canary Islands. Together with Azores and Madeira, these archipelagos com...

Intradural schwannoma of the conus medullaris is a rare form of spinal neoplasm, which commonly occurs in the lumbar region. Conus medullaris level is unusual for schwannomas. A 49-year-old woman presented with chronic sciatica, mild bladder dysfunction, and paresthesia in the buttocks. Magnetic resonance imaging of the spine showed a mass lesion in the conus medullaris region with nerve compre...

BACKGROUND Afferents from the urinary tract transmit bladder sensations to the central nervous system. Spinal cord injury (SCI) may affect both efferent motor and afferent sensory pathways. Presence/absence of bladder sensations in patients with complete spinal cord, conus or cauda equina lesions was compared with neurologically unimpaired patients. METHODS During urodynamics, bladder sensati...

UNLABELLED Some anomalies of the conus artery are relatively common, such as those arising from the discrete ostium of the right coronary artery. We report a 63 y/o male with an unusual anatomic variation of the conus artery terminating in the pericardium. Coronary anomalies may cause coronary ischemia, infarction and sudden cardiac death; hence, it is significant to identify coronary anomalies...

EXTRAMEDULLARY intrathecal granuloma formation is a rare complication of morphine administration via implanted drug delivery systems. We present a unique case of a granuloma adherent to the conus medullaris presenting as cauda equina syndrome. Practitioners should not assume that implantation of intrathecal catheters with their tips located at or below the conus medullaris will eliminate all ri...

We report a rare case of schwannoma of the conus medullaris. A 38-year-old female presented with pain and numbness in her lower limbs. Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed a heterogenous tumour of the conus medullaris. A subtotal resection was performed and histology confirmed schwannoma. The literature regarding these rare tumours, and their cell of origin, is reviewed.