Relationship between leukocytosis and ischemic complications following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

The prognostic significance of admission leukocytosis with respect to ischemic complications of subarachnoid hemorrhage was retrospectively investigated in a series of patients with recently ruptured intracranial aneurysms. The present study concerned 47 consecutive cases admitted within 72 hours following the last hemorrhage, in the years 1982-1984. There was no difference in the admission WBC counts between patients who subsequently deteriorated due to ischemic complications and those who did not. However, the cell count rose significantly at the time of the clinical manifestations of ischemia, possibly as a result of structural damage of brain tissue and/or increased sympathetic and adrenocortical activity. The possible contribution of leukocytes to the pathogenesis of ischemic damage following subarachnoid hemorrhage--perhaps through the release of leukotrienes--will require further investigation

Cervico-medullary junction hemangioblastomas. Report of two cases and review of the literature.

Reporting two cases of dorsally located cervico-medullary hemangioblastomas the Authors discuss clinico-biological features, diagnosis and therapy of this vascular neoplasms, analyzing the cases reported in detail in the available literature. In this site the tumor has often an exophitic development, adhering more or less extensively to the posterior surface of medulla oblungata, where progressively creates a niche. Transient neurogenic arterial blood hypertension, by possible involvement of the dorsal nucleus of vagal nerve, together with the lack of postoperative respiratory disturbances constitute the main clinical features of differentiation with intraaxial hemangioblastomas of the brainstem. Actually MRI represents the radiological investigation of choice, even if angiography still plays an important role in the correct preoperative diagnosis of hemangioblastomas. The therapy of dorsally located cervico-medullary hemangioblastomas is the total removal of the lesion also in asymptomatic patients, being the late surgical results generally successful