Transoral protrusion of a peritoneal catheter is rare. Only two cases have been reported in the English literature. We now report the case of a 5-year-old girl who presented with a catheter that had been inserted 4 years previously, protruding from her mouth. Signs of cerebrospinal fluid infection or peritonitis were absent. The peritoneal catheter was cut and externalized at the chest. The distal portion, which had perforated the stomach wall, was removed using endoscopic procedures. After 3 weeks of antibiotic treatment, a new shunt was inserted. Analysis of 50 cases of bowel perforation extracted from the English literature showed that among the suggested factors such as age, gender, nutritional state, history of abdominal surgery, and length and type of the catheter, age was the only predisposing factor. In the treatment of bowel perforation by a peritoneal catheter, suspected shunt infection should be managed properly and contamination be minimized during removal of the peritoneal catheter.

This classification scheme, which considers the origin level, is clinically relevant and useful because optimal surgical approaches could be designed by considering multiple factors affecting surgical procedure and outcome, including the expected extent of adhesion and preferred sites of recurrence, as well as the topographical location of the tumor. In subdiaphragmatic tumors, which correspond to intrasellar and prechiasmatic tumors, a transsphenoidal approach could be reasonably attempted even with considerable suprasellar extensions because they tend to adhere to the intrasellar structures, and the superior surface of the tumor may be easily separated from the brain structures by pulling. Supradiaphragmatic tumors, however, may need a wider surgical approach that can provide direct vision of the tumor because of possible extensive adhesion.

Extrapontine myelinolysis (EPM) is caused by marked fluctuation of the serum electrolyte level. Patients with suprasellar germ cell tumors frequently present with diabetes insipidus, which is often aggravated by administration of steroid hormone. In addition, cisplatin-based chemotherapy is sometimes accompanied by marked serum electrolyte fluctuation because it needs massive hydration to prevent renal damage. Two children with suprasellar germ cell tumors in whom EPM developed secondary to profound hyponatremia and was rapidly corrected are described. The central pons was spared in both cases. Clinically the children showed transient neurological deficits including confusion, pseudobulbar palsy, and deterioration of consciousness. MRI demonstrated bilateral symmetrical, high-signal-intensity (HSI) lesions on T2-weighted images (T2WI) at the basal ganglia and adjacent cerebral cortex. Follow-up T1WI a few months later revealed newly developed HSI lesions in the basal ganglia. The patients gradually improved, but the neurological deficits did not completely disappear. During the perioperative management of suprasellar germ cell tumors, EPM should be considered when a patient has a significant electrolyte imbalance and neurological deficits, especially confusion and pseudobulbar palsy.

The authors report two cases with a rare complication of ventriculoperitoneal shunt. The peritoneal catheters migrated upward to the scalp and to the clavicular area. In one case, the whole length of the peritoneal catheter was pulled out from the peritoneal cavity and was coiled subcutaneously. Both of the patients had the habit of head rotation and one of the patients had a history of subcutaneous fluid collection at the site of coiling. At surgery, whitish inflammatory granulation tissues were noted around the catheter in both cases, which might act as an anchoring point for the "windlass effect".

Primary intramedullary anaplastic oligodendroglioma is a rare tumor, only four cases of which have been reported. The authors present the case of a 38-month-old boy with primary intramedullary anaplastic oligodendroglioma. He underwent partial removal of the tumor and spinal radiation therapy. The residual tumor disappeared 12 months after radiation, and 48 months after treatment there was no evidence of recurrence. This case shows that in primary intramedullary anaplastic oligodendroglioma, postoperative radiation therapy confined to the spinal cord can yield an optimal result.