Solitary bone plasmacytoma as posterior fossa cranial neoplasia, presentation of two clinical cases

Background: Solitary bone plasmacytoma is a plasmatic cell dyscrasia; its presentation in the posterior fossa is very rare. Case Description: We present two cases, a 59-year-old male and a 50-year-old female, both with heterogeneous clinical presentation. One had symptoms compatible with endocranial hypertension, and the other presented with a hemispheric cerebellar syndrome and ipsilateral trigeminal neuralgia. They were both related to an intraosseous tumor of the occipital region near the torcula with large extension to the posterior fossa. The diagnosis of a plasma cell neoplasm arising from the diploe of the squamous portion of the occipital bone was confirmed with immunohistochemistry. Conclusion: The treatment for a cranial tumor that is suspected to be a solitary bone plasmacytoma requires a multidisciplinary team to diagnose, plan a total resection, and after surgery continue with the follow-up of the patient. Solitary bone plasmacytoma should be considered as a differential diagnosis for a tumor that produces cancellous bone widening without sclerotic borders.

In-utero Diagnosis of Double Encephalocele - Imaging Features and Review of Literature

Encephalocele is protrusion of brain parenchyma through a defect in the cranium. It is classified into various types based on the defect location: sincipital (fronto-ethmoidal), basal (trans-sphenoidal, spheno-ethmoidal, trans-ethmoidal, and spheno-orbital), occipital and parietal. Double encephaloceles are very rare with only a handful of cases reported in the literature and most of these cases involved either occipital or sub-occipital region. All, except one, cases of double encephaloceles were diagnosed postnatally. We present a case of double encephalocele with parietal and occipital components diagnosed in utero. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of double encephalocele involving the parietal and occipital skull bones diagnosed in-utero.

Investigating the Effect of COVID-19 Infection on P300 Based BCI Application Performance

The COVID-19, which has rapidly spread and infected millions of people from all over the world, causes various problems including psychiatric, economic, educational as well as health. Many studies have been reported that COVID-19 can be characterized by vascular damage predominantly involving micro vessels. In this study, we proposed a method to examine whether COVID-19 effects on brain computer interface (BCI) performance or not. We collected P300 based electroencephalogram (EEG) signals from six subjects before and after the COVID-19 infection. For classifying the P300 and non-P300 EEG signals, single output and two-layer artificial neural network was utilized. Based on the t-test analysis, it was observed that there was a significant difference between the before and after COVID-19 infection test groups especially on Oz channel in occipital region for alpha=0.05 percent while that of for alpha=0.01 percent shows no statistical difference for P300 classification results. The latency values, on the other hand, before and after COVID-19 infection did not represent any difference for both significance levels. It is clearly understood from the literature that COVID-19 negatively effects to the microvascular bed. Therefore, it might be expected that it could cause to reduce the P300 based BCI performance. This was the first study to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on P300-based BCI performance, taking into account the EEG signals of the COVID-19 infection. The obtained results showed that although the COVID-19 infection did not generally effected P300 based BCI application performance and latency values, the performance of the occipital region electrodes slightly effected.

Giant tumefactive perivascular spaces in a pediatric patient: A rare radiological entity

Background: Giant tumefactive perivascular spaces (TPVS) are radiological rarities and may mimic other neurological structural lesions. Fewer than 80 cases have been reported in the literature with even fewer in the pediatric population. Case Description: The authors present an image report showcasing a 3-year-old boy presenting with uncontrolled seizures despite multiple anti-epileptic medications. His magnetic resonance imaging showed multiple, non-contrast enhancing cyst clusters within the left parieto-occipital region that was hyperintense on T2-weighted imaging, and isointense to cerebrospinal fluid. Due to a characteristic absence of perilesional edema seen on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery imaging or diffusion restriction on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) sequences, this was diagnosed as a giant TPVS. Conclusion: Accurate diagnosis of these rare radiological entities is based on pathognomonic findings that can help prevent unnecessary surgery and guide management for patients, particularly in the pediatric population as seen in our case.

Effects Of Remote Myofascial Release Of Sub-Occipital Region In Asymptomatic Individuals With Hamstrings Tightness

The purpose of this study was to research the effect of performing Remote myofascial release of sub occipital region in asymptomatic individual with hamstring tightness. Keeping these muscles loose is important. If muscles have tightened up then muscles are working at less than 100 % of capacity and performance will be down as a result. Objective: The objective of this study was to find out the effect of performing Remote myofascial release of sub occipital region in asymptomatic individual with hamstring tightness. Methods: The study was a Quasi experimental trial and was conducted in Physiotherapy center for arthritis. 64participant in this research & divided into 2 Groups. (Group A was treated with static Stretching exercises of hamstrings and Group B was treated with remote Myofascial release of sub occipital region and static Stretching exercises). For analysis we were used Knee Extension angle and Sit to reach test at baseline and after 2 weeks of treatment in both groups. Data analysis was done by SPSS. Results: p value of within the group comparison for knee extension angle and Sit to reach test score was significant i.e. <0.001.Mayofascial Release of sub occipital region and static stretch give us best result.IN group A Pre-treatment knee extension angle was 14.68 & post treatment 10.87 with mean difference 3.81 P <0.01.In Group B pre-treatment knee extension angle 14.78.& post-treatment knee extension angle 13.75 with mean difference 11.03 & p<0.001 which concludes that remote myofascial release of sub-occipital region improve the flexibility of hamstring tightness. Conclusion: The current study concludes that myofascial release of sub occipital region along with static stretching and static stretching alone, both are effective in improving flexibility in patients with hamstring tightness. However, myofascial release of sub occipital region along with static stretching is more effective than static stretching alone.

Histopathological Evidence of Occipital Involvement in Male Androgenetic Alopecia

Background: The occipital region of the scalp is generally accepted as an unaffected area of androgenetic alopecia (AGA) for both genders. However, evidence of AGA involving the occipital scalp has been demonstrated in women; meanwhile, it is unclear whether occipital involvement also occurs in men.Objective: We aimed to determine if there is occipital involvement in men with AGA.Methods: This case-control study compared hair counts of scalp biopsy specimens from the occipital region of 82 men with Hamilton-Norwood III-VII and 82 unaffected men.Results: The mean ages of men with AGA and controls were 40.1 ± 8.9 and 38.6 ± 10.5 years, respectively (P = 0.291). A significant decrease in total hair follicles, terminal hair follicles, follicular units and terminal to vellus (T:V) ratio, along with a significant increase in follicular stelae was indicated in the AGA group compared to controls (all P &lt; 0.05). Subgroup analyses revealed that average counts of total hair follicles, terminal hair follicles and T:V ratios were also significantly lower in males with Hamilton-Norwood VI and VII than in controls (all P &lt; 0.05). There were no correlations between increasing age and hair count parameters, but a significant negative association was found between total follicle numbers and disease duration (r = −0.23, P = 0.02).Conclusions: AGA can involve the occipital area of male patients with advanced disease. Therefore, the occiput of particular cases should not be used to determine reference data for normal scalp hair, and preoperative measurements of miniaturized hairs in the donor site are strongly recommended in all persons undergoing hair transplantation.

Fibrosarcoma in occipital region: A rare case presentation

Head and neck fibrosarcoma are extremely rare, and fibrosarcoma arising is scalp is very rare with only occasional case reports. To be labelled as fibrosarcoma, it must lack features of well-defined fibrosarcoma subtypes and other entities. Here we report a case of a 48 years old female who came to surgery OPD with complaints of a painful nodule over the occiput. Excision was done and histopathology and immunohistochemistry confirmed the diagnosis of fibrosarcoma. We are here reporting this case because of its rarity and diagnostic difficulties.

iant extradural dermoid cyst in the right parietal-occipital region with obliteration of the transverse sinus

The study objective – to report a case of giant extradural dermoid cyst in a 48‑year-old woman; the cyst caused extensive erosion of the occipital bone and lower portions of the right parietal bone, which is quite rare.Case report. A 48‑year-old female patient was admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery, A. Ya. Kozhevnikov Clinic of Nervous System Diseases, University Clinical Hospital No. 3, I. M . Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University on 28.07.2020. In 2002, the patient noted the emergence of a 1‑cm subcutaneous formation in the right occipital region. The formation was slowly growing. On 17.12.2015, she underwent magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. It revealed a 2,5 × 4,4 × 4,0 cm extradural formation with clear contours and erosion of the occipital and right parietal bones. On 12.03.2020, she had contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, which demonstrated that the tumor was growing (its size was 3,0 × 6,4 × 5,5 cm). Magnetic resonance imaging scans also showed extensive erosion (6,4 × 5,4 cm) of the occipital and right parietal bones and obliteration of the right transverse sinus. On 28.07.2020, the patient underwent elective surgery, namely excision of the extradural dermoid cyst in the right parietooccipital region with simultaneous reconstruction of the calvarial bones using a titanium plate. The cyst capsule and its contents were completely removed. The capsule was tightly attached to the dura mater, but did not invade it. To remove small fragments of the capsule that could potentially invade the bone, we performed small marginal resection of the calvarial bones at the depth of 2–3 mm from the defect margin. After the removal of cyst capsule, well-defined furrow could be visualized on the dura mater in the projection of the obliterated transverse sinus. Five days postoperatively, the patient was discharged from hospital in satisfactory condition.Conclusion. Surgical treatment of extradural dermoid cysts implies radical removal of the tumor. Since the cyst capsule gets tightly attached to the edges of the bone defect along with bone erosion, the removal of such cysts as a single block is almost impossible. The risk of severe erosion of the skull bones caused by a dermoid cyst with extradural (and sometimes intradural) growth increases with age. Therefore, it is recommended to remove such tumors as early as possible. Patients with skull bone defects also require cranioplasty.

New record of Neoclinus lacunicola (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Chaenopsidae) from Ulleung Island, Korea revealed by body morphometry and mitochondrial DNA barcoding

One specimen (38.3 mm SL) of Neoclinus lacunicola Fukao, 1980, belonging to the family Chaenopsidae, was first recorded from Ulleung Island, Korea (East Sea, otherwise known as the Sea of Japan) on 5 January 2021. This species was characterized by paired external pores of incomplete lateral line running from the upper margin of the opercle, seven pairs of supraorbital cirri arranged in two rows, occipital region with a pair of cirri, and 13 rays of pectoral fin. This species is morphologically similar to the Neoclinus toshimaensis Fukao, 1980, but differs in the number of cirri on the supraorbital (6–7 versus 9–11 cirri). This study documents the first report of N. lacunicola in Korean waters and proposes the new Korean name of ‘eol-lug-bi-neul-be-do-la-chi’ for the species. For the confirmation of the identity of the species, a partial gene sequence of the mt COI (570 bp) of N. lacunicola was obtained for the first time.