Androgen-induced cerebral venous sinus thrombosis in a young body builder: case report

BACKGROUND: Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis is an infrequent disease with a variety of causes. Pregnancy, puerperium, contraceptive pills and intracranial infections are the most common causes. The patient may present with headache, focal neurological deficits and seizures. The clinical outcome is highly variable and treatment with heparin is advised. CASE PRESENTATION: The patient is a 22 year old male who presented with headache, repeated vomiting and papilledema. He was a bodybuilder doing exercise since 5 years ago, who had used nandrolone decaonoate 25 milligrams intramuscularly during the previous 5 months. Brain MRI and MRV showed superior sagital and transverse sinus thrombosis and extensive investigations did not reveal any known cause. CONCLUSIONS: We suggested that androgen was the predisposing factor in our patient. Androgens may increase coagulation factors or platelet activity and cause arterial or venous thrombosis. As athletes may hide using androgens it should be considered as a predisposing factor for thrombotic events in such patients

A rare cause of neural foraminal widening

The differential diagnosis for lesions causing neural foraminal widening is vast. The majority are solitary benign peripheral nerve sheath tumours, such as neurofibromas or schwannomas. We present a case of a rare cause of neural foraminal expansion secondary to a posterior thoracic extradural angiolipoma. We describe the presence of chemical shift artefact on post gadolinium T1-weighted imaging as indirect evidence of a fatty component. This potentially important diagnostic sign may raise the suspicion of angiolipoma, especially in an isointense or hypointense dumbbell lesion on T1-weighted imaging, and has not been described previously in this context. Accurate radiological diagnosis of an angiolipoma is important to reduce unexpected haemorrhagic complications from biopsy or resection of the lesion

A rare cause of neural foraminal widening

The differential diagnosis for lesions causing neural foraminal widening is vast. The majority are solitary benign peripheral nerve sheath tumours, such as neurofibromas or schwannomas. We present a case of a rare cause of neural foraminal expansion secondary to a posterior thoracic extradural angiolipoma. We describe the presence of chemical shift artefact on post gadolinium T1-weighted imaging as indirect evidence of a fatty component. This potentially important diagnostic sign may raise the suspicion of angiolipoma, especially in an isointense or hypointense dumbbell lesion on T1-weighted imaging, and has not been described previously in this context. Accurate radiological diagnosis of an angiolipoma is important to reduce unexpected haemorrhagic complications from biopsy or resection of the lesion

Tumefactive demyelination presenting during bevacizumab treatment

We report the emergence of tumefactive demyelination during treatment with intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin). This is of particular significance given that bevacizumab is currently being assessed as a potential treatment option for neuromyelitis optica, another demyelinating condition