Case Report - Pediatric intramedullary schwannoma without neurofibromatosis

Pediatric intramedullary schwannoma without neurofibromatosis is extremely rare with only five cases reported so far. We present this rare finding in an 8-year-old boy who presented with a sudden onset of weakness in all limbs. An intraoperative diagnosis of schwannoma enabled us to carry out a total excision of the tumor, which resulted in near complete recovery at 18 months follow-up. Although rare, this diagnosis should be considered when a child presents with a solitary intramedullary tumor, since its total resection can be achieved improving surgical outcome

A new minimally invasive tubular brain retractor system for surgery of deep intracerebral hematoma

Access to deep-seated brain lesions with traditional fixed and rigid brain retractors can be difficult without causing significant trauma to the surrounding brain. Tubular retractors offer an advantage of low retracting pressure. We developed a new inexpensive and simple tubular retractor which requires very small cortisectomy. The new tubular retractor was made up of silicone with inner diameter of 15, 18 and 23 mm and outer diameter of 17, 20 and 25 mm, respectively. This tube (1 mm thick) was cut in longitudinal direction. It was folded to make a small-diameter tube so that it could be introduced through a small cortisectomy. Margins of cortisectomy were gently and slowly retracted by Killian nasal speculum. Folded retractor, held by tissue forceps, was introduced inside the opened Killian nasal speculum. Tissue forceps and nasal speculum were removed leaving tubular retractor in place, which comes back to its normal tubular configuration after release. Surgery was performed using rigid Karl Storz 0° telescope (30 cm long and 4 mm in diameter) or microscope. Near-total removals of intracerebral hematomas, 37 hypertensive and 3 traumatic, was done using this retractor without any complication