Pneumoventricle of Unknown Origin. A Personal Experience and Literature Review of a Clinical Enigma

Pneumocephalus (PC) is an uncommon and life-threatening neurological condition. Air within the ventricular system of the brain is also known as Pneumoventricle (PV). It requires emergency treatments to prevent catastrophic neurological outcomes. Head injury is the most common cause of PV, but there are other well-recognized etiologies in case there is no clear radiological evidence of skull discontinuity. Although this clinical entity has been well described in Literature, our report presents the unique feature of describing a purely ventricular PC without evidence of skull base or cranial vault fracture. Therefore, this case presentation explores mysterious causes of fistulous connections with the atmosphere that may lead to air trapped in and around the cranial vault. The aim of the present paper is to report a case of post-traumatic PV without radiological signs of skull base or convexity fracture in a 72-years-old man, underlining the diagnostic and clinical features, and review the relevant Literature

Anterior-to-Posterior Migration of a Lumbar Disc Sequestration. Surgical Remarks and Technical Notes about a Tailored Microsurgical Discectomy

Extrusion of disc material within the spinal canal complicates up to 28.6% of lumbar disc herniations. Due to the anatomical "corridors" created by the anterior midline septum and lateral membranes, relocation occurs with an anterior and anterolateral axial topography. Posterior migration is an extremely rare condition and anterior-to-posterior circumferential migration is an even rarer condition. Its radiological feature can be enigmatic and since, in more than 50% of cases, clinical onset is a hyperacute cauda equina syndrome, it may imply a difficult surgical decision in emergency settings. Surgery is the gold standard but when dealing with such huge sequestrations, standard microdiscectomy must be properly modified in order to minimize the risk of surgical trauma or traction on the nerve roots

Asymmetric Ruthenium(II) and Osmium(II) Complexes with New Bidentate Polyquinoline Ligands. Synthesis and NMR Characterization

A series of Ru(II) and Os(II) tris-chelate complexes with new bidentate 2-pyridylquinoline ligands have been synthesized and fully characterized by EA,1H-NMR and FAB-MS techniques. The new ligands are: L1 = 4-p-methoxyphenyl-6-bromo-2-(2′- pyridyl)quinoline (mphbr-pq) and L2 = 4-p-hydroxyphenyl-6-bromo-2-(2′-pyridyl)-quinoline (hphbr-pq). The complexes studied are: [Ru(bpy)2L1](PF6)2 (C1), [Ru(bpy)2L2](PF6)2 (C2), [Os(bpy)2L1](PF6)2 (C3), [Os(bpy)2L2](PF6)2 (C4) (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine), [Ru(dmbpy)2L1](PF6)2 (C5), [Ru(dmbpy)2L2](PF6)2 (C6), [Os(dmbpy)2L1](PF6)2 (C7), and [Os(dmbpy)2L2](PF6)2 (C8) (dmbpy = 4,4′-dimethyl-2,2′-bipyridine). Moreover, new functionalized complexes C9-C12 were obtained by the basecatalyzed direct alkylation of C2, C4, C6, and C8 with 6-bromo-1-hexene. The complete assignment of the 1H-NMR spectra for the two new ligands (L1 and L2), and their Ru(II) or Os(II) complexes has been accomplished using a combination of one- and two-dimensional NMR techniques. The JH,H values have been determined for the majority of the resonances

Surgical Treatment of Spinal Meningiomas

Spinal meningiomas are common spinal tumors; in most cases they are benign and with a good surgical prognosis. However, specific location, infiltration of spinal cord, vascular encasement, or spinal root involvement can bring to a less favorable prognosis. We reviewed a series of 173 consecutive patients with spinal meningiomas treated from 1976 to 2011 in our institution, and data were stratified according to sex, age, symptoms, axial location, Simpson resection grade, and functional pre-/postoperative status. Particular attention was paid to description of those factors leading to a poor outcome. Functional improvement at follow-up was observed in 86.7% of cases, 6.4% of patients resulted stable, and 6.9% worsened; a low functional grade before surgery was connected to a lesser improvement after. Anterolateral meningiomas were the most represented (42.2%); a gross total resection (Simpson grade I and II) was conducted in 98.8% and a macroscopically complete removal without dural resection or coagulation (Simpson grade III) was performed in 1.2%. According to data from our series, negative prognostic factors seem to be: anterior or anterolateral axial implant, long-lasting symptoms before diagnosis, WHO grade > I, Simpson grade II and III resection, sphincter involvement, and worse functional grade at onset

Aging, Cognitive Load, Dementia and Hearing Loss

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Influence of structural irregularity on the q-behaviour factor of light-frame timber buildings by means of incremental dynamic analysis

This paper investigates the role of sheathing-to-framing connection ductility in the evaluation of the structural -behaviour factor for Light-Frame Timber (LFT) buildings, by means of Incremental Dynamic Analyses (IDA). This approach allows to consider nonlinear cyclic behaviour of the walls, which cannot be taken into account with the static approaches used in most of the available literature on LFT buildings. To this aim, Finite Element wall models, preliminary calibrated towards a cyclic full-scale experimental test, are built to study six case-study buildings, both regular and non-regular, with 2, 3 or 4 storeys, which were designed according to Eurocode and Capacity Design provisions. Parametric analyses are performed by varying the displacement-ductility of the panel. Finally, numerical results are discussed in terms of q-behaviour factor, and its sensitivity to structural irregularities, with respect to existing code provisions for timber buildings

Contessa Entellina (PA). Forme di insediamento tra tarda antichità e età islamica

International audienceIl contributo presenta i risultati preliminari risultanti dallo studio della ceramica tardoantica e medievale della prospezione archeologica nel comune di Contessa Entellina (Palermo)

Aging, Cognitive Decline and Hearing Loss: Effects of Auditory Rehabilitation and Training with Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants on Cognitive Function and Depression among Older Adults

A growing interest in cognitive effects associated with speech and hearing processes is spreading throughout the scientific community essentially guided by evidence that central and peripheral hearing loss is associated with cognitive decline. For the present research, 125 participants older than 65 years of age (105 with hearing impairment and 20 with normal hearing) were enrolled, divided into 6 groups according to their degree of hearing loss and assessed to determine the effects of the treatment applied. Patients in our research program routinely undergo an extensive audiological and cognitive evaluation protocol providing results from the Digit Span test, Stroop color-word test, Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Geriatric Depression Scale, before and after rehabilitation. Data analysis was performed for a cross-sectional and longitudinal study of the outcomes for the different treatment groups. Each group demonstrated improvement after auditory rehabilitation or training on shortand long-term memory tasks, level of depression and cognitive status scores. Auditory rehabilitation by cochlear implants or hearing aids is effective also among older adults (median age of 74 years) with different degrees of hearing loss, and enables positive improvements in terms of social isolation, depression and cognitive performance