Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Endovascular treatment of the carotid-cavernous vascular lesions

Introduction: The treatment of lesions which compromise the cavernous sinus has always constituted a challenge. The endovascular treatment of these lesions has presented diverse alterations over the last years. This study aims to evaluate the endovascular treatment of vascular lesions in the internal carotid artery (ICA), cavernous segment, performed at our service. Method: This is a descriptive study, retrospective and prospective. Patients with aneurysm in the cavernous ICA or direct carotid-cavernous fistula (dCCF) submitted to endovascular treatment were evaluated. Results: Included were 26 patients with intracavernous aneurysms and 10 with dCCF. All aneurysms were treated with ICA occlusion. The dCCF were treated with occlusion of the ICA in seven cases and with selective fistula occlusion in the remaining three. There was an improvement in pain and ocular proptosis in all patients with dCCF. In the patients with intracavernous aneurysms, the incidence of retroorbitary pain went from 84.6% to a mere 30.8%, following the treatment. Following endovascular treatment, there was an important improvement in the dysfunction of cranial nerves, compromised in both patient groups, mainly in the oculomotor nerve. Conclusion: The endovascular treatment provided an improvement in the patients of this study, especially in the criteria pain and oculomotor nerve dysfunction

Changes in Management Strategies After Spontaneous Migration of a Retained Intraorbital Metallic Foreign Body

Purpose: Because of the controversial biologic tolerance and management, retained intraorbital metallic foreign body (RIMFb) poses a formidable challenge to surgeons. Besides location of the foreign body, indications for surgical management include neurologic injury, mechanical restriction of the eye movement, and development of local infection or draining fistula. The authors describe an unusual case of spontaneous migration of a RIMFb. Methods: A 26-year-old man had a gunshot injury on the left orbit. The patient was initially managed conservatively because of the posterior position of the bullet fragment. Thereafter, because of the clinical impairments and anterior migration of projectile, surgical treatment was considered. Results: Spontaneous anterior migration has led to mechanical disturbances and inflammatory complications that comprise explicit surgical indications for removal. The patient underwent surgery with complete relief of symptoms. We suppose that extrinsic ocular muscles might play a role in shifting large RIMFb over time, leading to change in the management strategies. Conclusions: Spontaneous migration of RIMFb is a rare clinical situation that can lead to pain, local deformity, as well as changes in the management strategies of the affected patients even in the late phase of follow-up

Multiple epidural haematomas after meningioma surgery

Intracranial meningioma removal carries a higher risk of post-operative haemorrhage compared with other intracranial neoplasm surgeries. We report a patient who developed three intracranial haematomas following a frontal meningioma removal.</