Background: Chronic calcified subdural empyema is an exceedingly rare central nervous system infection with a handful of cases published to date. Reported cases presented with nonspecific clinical signs and symptoms. The duration between the initial onset of symptoms and diagnosis can vary drastically from a few years to up to 46 years. Although there are known predisposing causes, the initial source of infection can sometimes be difficult to identify. Case presentation: Our patient was a 39-year-old Ethiopian man who presented with left-side body weakness of 6 years' duration with worsening of symptoms of 6 months' duration. He had no history of trauma, meningitis, or previous surgery. The results of routine laboratory tests were normal. The diagnosis was made by computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging and was confirmed by surgery. Frontoparietal craniotomy was performed, and evacuation of non-foul-smelling collection was done. The patient was reoperated for tension pneumocephalus 48 hours after the initial surgery. He died 10 days later. Conclusion: This is a rare case of a giant chronic calcified subdural empyema with no known preceding history of trauma or infection.

BACKGROUND: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is one of the rare forms of cancer globally which has a high incidence in select geographic and ethnic populations. The current study aims to assess the clinical presentation, imaging patterns and radiologypathology correlation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis of 80 patients with newly diagnosed nasopharyngeal carcinoma who came to Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital from January 2016 to August 2017. The patients’ history, physical examination, abdominopelvic ultrasound, chest x-ray, computed tomography scan and biopsy reports were reviewed from their medical record. Patients who had previous history of treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, those who did not have biopsy and those without imaging were excluded from the study.RESULTS: This study showed that 61(81.3%) patients had neck swelling as the initial clinical symptom, and the average time of presentation of symptoms was 6(IQR 8) months. On the other hand, 56(70.0%) were diagnosed with non-keratinizing undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma while 15(3.8%) had keratinizing nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Sixty-nine (86.3%) patients had nodal metastasis; 22.5% had invasion into the paranasal sinuses; 47.5% had T4 with T1, T2 and T3 being 18.8%, 17.5% and 7.5% stage respectively at time of diagnosis. Ninety percent of the cases had a diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma on imaging, but 10% were given alternative diagnosis.CONCLUSION: Non-keratinizing undifferentiated type was the commonest histologic subtype in this study which is also recognized as the commonest one in endemic countries. A significant number did not have a specific histologic WHO type on pathology report which could in turn affect the management and assessment of risk factors.

BACKGROUNS: Head and neck cancer is the commonest cancer among male patients and the third commonest cancer in females at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital from 1998 to 2010. METHODS: A retrospective cross-sectional study of 90 patients with laryngeal mass who came to oncology and radiology departments at Tikur Anbessa specialized hospital from 2016 to 2019. Medical records were reviewed for clinical data, history, laryngoscope exam and computed tomography (CT) reports. The agreement between imaging and laryngoscope examination were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age of presentation was 51.5 years ±14 (SD). The primary patient complaint was hoarseness of voice 77(85.6%) followed by shortness of breath in 28(31.1%). Among 34 cases for which risk factors were indicated, 23 (67.6%) had cigarette smoking. Out of the 79 cases with laryngeal subsites described, 38 (48.1%) were transglottic, 27 (34.2%) were glottic and 12 (15.2%) were supraglottic. Extra-laryngeal spread was seen in 46(51.1%) patients and 42(46.7) were stage IVA. Out of 90 patients only 38(42.2%) patients had laryngoscope findings. CONCLUSION: Transglottic involvement with extra-laryngeal spread was common with advanced stage at presentation.

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