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Inca bones are accessory bones found in neurocranium of human skulls. Occurrence of Inca bones is rare as compared to other inter sutural bones such as wormian bones. These Inca ossicles are regarded as variants of the normal. The reporting of such occurrences is inadequate from Central India. Objectives: To find the incidence of Inca variants in Central India. Materials and Methods: In the present study, 380 dried adult human skulls were examined. All specimen samples were procured from various Medical colleges of Central India. They were analyzed for gross incidence, sexual dimorphism and number of fragments of Inca bones. Results: Gross incidence of Inca bones was found to be 1.315 %. Incidence rate was higher in male skulls than female skulls (male: 1.428%; female: 1.176%). The Inca bones frequently occurred signally. Out of the five observed Inca ossicles, two were fragmented. Conclusions: This data gives idea regarding gross incidence, sexual dimorphism and number of fragments of Inca bones in neurocranium of human skulls from Central India. The knowledge of this variable is useful for neurosurgeons, anthropologists and radiologists.

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Background: Trauma is one of the common surgical emergencies presenting at B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), Nepal, a tertiary referral center catering to the needs of the population of Eastern Nepal and nearby districts of India. Objective: The objective of this study is to analyze the magnitude, epidemiological, clinical profile and outcome of trauma at B P Koirala Institute of Health Sciences. Materials and Methods: This descriptive case series study includes all patients with history of trauma coming to BPKIHS emergency and referred to the surgery department. We noted the detailed clinical history and examination, demographics, mechanism of injury, nature of injury, time of reporting in emergency, treatment offered (operative or non operative management) and analyzed details of operative procedure (i.e. laparotomy, thoracotomy, craniotomy etc.), average length of hospital stay, morbidity and outcome (according to Glasgow outcome scale). Collected data were analyzed using EpiInfo 2000 statistical software. Results: There were 1848 patients eligible to be included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 28.9 ± 19.3 years. Majority of the patients (38%) belonged to the age group of 21 - 40 years and the male to female ratio was 2.7:1. Most of the trauma victims were students (30%) followed by laborers (27%) and farmers (22%) respectively. The commonest causes of injury were fall from height (39%), road traffic accident (38%) and physical assault (18%); 78% of the patients were managed conservatively and 22% underwent operative management. Postoperative complications were seen in 18%. Wound infection 7.5%, neurological deficit including cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) otrorrhea was seen in 2.2% patients. Good recovery was seen in 84%, moderate disability in 5.2% patients and severe disability in 1.4% patients. The mortally was 6.3% and most of the deaths were related to traumatic brain injuries. Conclusions: In Nepal, trauma-related injury contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality and is the third leading cause of death. There are very few studies on trauma from this country and hence this study will help in understanding the etiology and outcome particularly in the Eastern region of Nepal.

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Penetrating cranial injury is a potentially life-threatening condition. Injuries resulting from the use of angle grinders are numerous and cause high-velocity penetrating cranial injuries. We present a series of two penetrating head injuries associated with improper use of angle grinder, which resulted in shattering of disc into high velocity missiles with reference to management and prevention. One of those hit on the forehead of the operator and the other on the occipital region of the co-worker at a distance of five meters. The pathophysiological consequence of penetrating head injuries depends on the kinetic energy and trajectory of the object. In the nearby healthcare center the impacted broken disc was removed without realising the consequences and the wound was packed. As the conscious level declined in both, they were referred. CT brain revealed fracture in skull and changes in the brain in both. Expeditious removal of the penetrating foreign body and focal debridement of the scalp, skull, dura, and involved parenchyma and Watertight dural closure were carried out. The most important thing is not to remove the impacted foreign body at the site of accident. Craniectomy around the foreign body, debridement and removal of foreign body without zigzag motion are needed. Removal should be done following original direction of projectile injury. The neurological sequelae following the non missile penetrating head injuries are determined by the severity and location of initial injury as well as the rapidity of the exploration and fastidious debridement.

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Objectives: The study was undertaken to assess the adherence to World Health Organization (WHO)-multidrug therapy (MDT) and its successful completion by the leprosy patients and the extent of such defaulting, its correlates and reasons. Design: Retrograde cohort analysis was conducted during the first quarter of 2007 from the cases registered for WHO-MDT treatment during 2002 to 2005 in Kamrup district of Assam, India. Results: A total of 254 leprosy cases reflected the treatment seeking behavior of registered cases during the study period. Majority of the cases were from urban areas and defaulter rate higher in urban areas. The study group consisted of 60.63% males and 39.37% females.. Both the compliance and default was higher in the age group of 16 to 30 years. Majority of defaulters (32.28%) had passed the high school leaving certificate examination had per capita monthly income between Rs 500 - 749 (30.71%) and belonged to social class IV (33.86%) and V (30.71%). Significant statistical association was found between gender, literacy status, per capita income per month and socioeconomic status with treatment outcome. On analysis for the reasons of defaulting treatment; majority (33.07%) defaulted treatment due to loss of occupational hours when they come for receiving drugs at health center, 25.98% defaulted due to adverse reactions of drugs and 18.11% feared social stigma among major causes. Conclusions: The causes of defaulting treatment were related to gender, educational status, income as well as social class, or some combination of these. Recommendations, on strategic interventions to obviate the cause for noncompliance, were presented.

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We present a case of a 42-year-old male, an old case of deep vein thrombosis on warfarin and other drugs like quetiapine, aspirin, diclofenac sodium, fenofibrate, atorvastatin, propanolol and citalopram for concurrent illnesses, who presented with widespread mucocutaneous bleeding and epidural spinal hematoma. The epidural bleed presented clinically as a nontraumatic, rapidly improving myeloradiculopathy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine revealed an epidural hematoma at D12-L1 level. The case was managed conservatively due lack of neurosurgical facilities. The patient gained full neurological recovery on conservative management alone. This case highlights the problem of drug interaction on warfarin therapy and also an unusual spontaneous recovery of spinal hematoma. Our case was anticoagulated in the recommended therapeutic INR range of 2.2 to 2.4. Most of the similar cases reported in literature were also anticoagulated in the therapeutic range. Thus intraspinal hemorrhage is a rare but dangerous complication of anticoagulant therapy. It must be suspected in any patient on anticoagulant agents who complains of local or referred spinal pain associated with neurological deficits. Drug interactions with warfarin are common. High suspicion and immediate intervention are essential to prevent complications from intraspinal hemorrhage.

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Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in the older is most often due to aneurismal rupture. Other vascular lesions are known to rarely cause SAH. Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) can be difficult to diagnose because of its wide spectrum of clinical manifestations. Its diagnosis can be further complicated when patients initially present with acute SAH. We report a case of dural venous sinus thrombosis with SAH, most probably, due to raised venous pressure draining venous tributaries. A 59-year-old man presented with severe headache. Computerized tomography (CT) scan head was normal. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suggested right parasagittal fronto-parietal hemorrhage. No aneurysm was detected on magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) or digital subtraction angiography (DSA). MRV revealed superior sagittal sinus (SSS) and lateral sinus thrombosis. DSA showed occlusion of intracranial SSS and lateral venous sinus. The patient improved with anticoagulant therapy. This case highlights the fact that SAH may reveal a CVT, and emphasizes on the inclusion of MRV in the diagnostic workup of SAH, particularly in cases in which aneurysm is not detected.

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Intracranial meningioma during pregnancy challenges the skill of obstetricians, neurosurgeons and neuroanesthesiologists in resection of the tumor and to secure delivery of the baby. Advances in fetal and maternal monitoring, neuroanesthesia, and microsurgical techniques allow safe neurosurgical management of these patients. Urgent neurosurgical intervention is reserved for the management of malignancies, active hydrocephalus, and benign brain tumors associated with signs of impending herniation or progressive neurological deficit. Particular attention is given to maintain stable maternal hemodynamics to avoid uterine hypo perfusion and fetal hypoxia intraoperatively. Therefore, the major challenge of neuroanesthesia during pregnancy is to provide an appropriate balance between competing, and even contradictory, clinical goals of neuroanesthesiology and obstetric practice.

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Solitary neurofibroma is a rare tumor of the head and neck region. It is more common in viscera, where it is associated with features of NF1. It occurs most often between the third and fourth decade. These lesions are extremely rare in infants. We report a case of giant, solitary neurofibroma presenting as a progressive mass in parotid region in an infant. This case is unique in its age of presentation (11 months), site, size (about 8 x 15 cm) without any symptoms or neurological deficit.

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Hemangioblastomas are very highly vascular neoplasm with benign characteristics and; in comparison to cerebellar hemangioblastoma; cases of cystic hemangioblastoma of the brain stem are rare with only a few case reports available in the literature. We report the case of a 43-year-old-female with cystic hemagioblastoma of the brainstem managed successfully and review the relevant literature.

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A 17-year-old male, who gave up his favorite sport cricket and started playing football, presented with one-year history of slowly progressive atrophic weakness of forearms and hands. Neurological examination showed weak and wasted arms, forearms and hand but no evidence of pyramidal tract, spinothalmic tract and posterior column lesions. Plain cervical spine radiographs showed no abnormal findings. Cervical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed asymmetric cord atrophy; images obtained with neck flexed showed the anterior shifting of the posterior wall of the lower cervical dural sac resulting in cord compression. These findings suggest Hirayama disease, a kind of cervical myelopathy related to the flexion movements of the neck.

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Arrow injuries are an extinct form of injury in most parts of the developed world, but are still seen, albeit infrequently in developing countries. Reports of penetrating injuries of the craniofacial region secondary to projectiles are few and far between. The morbidity-free outcome of surgical removal, in case of penetrating arrow injuries, despite the delay in presentation and, moreover, in the emergency surgical practice, are the salient points to be remembered whilst managing such cases, for 'what the mind knows is what the eyes see and what the eyes see is what can be practiced'. We report the case of a patient who was attacked by a projectile fired from a crossbow. Immediate surgery under general anesthesia was required to remove the arrow, with utmost care to avoid any neurovascular compromise to the facial nerve, as well as minimize postoperative complications such as otitis media and subsequent meningitis.

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The musculocutaneous nerve usually branches out from the lateral cord of brachial plexus. It innervates the corcobrachialis, biceps brachii and brachialis muscles and continues as the lateral cutaneous nerve of forearm without exhibiting any communication with the median nerve or any other nerve. We report unilateral variation in motor innervations of the left arm in a 58-year-old male cadaver. The musculocutaneous nerve was found to be absent. A muscular branch of the median nerve was supplying the coracobrachialis muscle. In the middle of arm, the median nerve was found to be branching out, bifurcating and supplying the long and short head of biceps. The median nerve was found to be giving a separate branch, which supplied the brachialis muscle and continued as the lateral cutaneous nerve of forearm. The right sided structures were found to be normal. Surgeons should keep such variations in mind while performing arm surgeries.

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Tuberculosis of pituitary gland is rare. We report a case of tuberculosis of pituitary gland in a 68-year-old male presented with holocranial headache of four months duration with left temporal hemianopia, with visual acuity of 6/6, without any localizing sign. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a sellar ring enhancing mass with suprasellar extension. Patient was taken up for surgery and put on antitubercular treatment and hormone replacement therapy.

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Hydatid cyst of bone constitutes only 0.5 - 2% of all hydatidoses. The thoracic spine is the most common site of spinal hydatidoses. Primary hydatid cyst of the sacral spinal canal is rare. A 23-year-old gentleman had back pain five years ago. At that time he was evaluated and found to have a small cyst in S1 spinal canal, which was presumed to be a benign Tarlov's cyst; and no treatment was offered. He continued to have back pain and also developed sciatica on the right side. Neurological examination presently revealed right S1 radiculopathy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a large multiloculated cystic lesion extending from L5 to S2 spinal canal with bone erosion, both anteriorly and posteriorly. He underwent L5 to S2 laminectomy and excision of multiple cysts. The whole cyst was excised and cavity irrigated with sterilized formalin. A laparoscope was introduced in the cavity to look for extension into the pelvis and to confirm complete excision. Postoperatively, the patient received albendazole for two months. At 16 months follow-up the patient was asymptomatic. Hydatid cyst of sacrum is rare and can be missed at initial presentation. If the patient with a cystic lesion of sacral continues to have symptoms the diagnosis should be revaluated and prompt treatment should be offered.

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Radial nerve is usually a branch of the posterior cord of the brachial plexus. It innervates triceps, anconeous, brachialis, brachioradialis, extensor carpi radialis longus muscles and gives the posterior cutaneous nerve of the arm, lower lateral cutaneous nerve of arm, posterior cutaneous nerve of forearm; without exhibiting any communication with the medial cutaneous nerve of forearm or any other nerve. We report communication between the radial nerve and medial cutaneous nerve of forearm on the left side in a 58-year-old male cadaver. The right sided structures were found to be normal. Neurosurgeons should keep such variations in mind while performing the surgeries of axilla and upper arm.

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