We report two children with asymptomatic arachnoid cysts which resolved spontaneously without any surgical intervention and history of major head and body trauma. The first child was a 10-year-old boy with an arachnoid cyst in the right sylvian fissure. The second child was a 1-year-old girl with a right cerebral convexity arachnoid cyst. Both of them were asymptomatic. Arachnoid cysts spontaneously disappeared within 2 years following initial diagnosing. There was no major head and body trauma except usual home, school and sports activity. We speculated that the cysts ruptured into cerebrospinal fluid circulation by the mechanical effects of some forced activities to the brain tissue and cyst, such as excessive breathing, coughing and sport activities. These factors may change the balance between intracystic and pericystic pressure and facilitate the rupturing of the cyst into subdural, subarachnoid and intraventricular spaces. These cases demonstrate that neurosurgical intervention of asymptomatic arachnoid cysts is not absolutely indicated in the paediatric age group. Close follow up with computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a treatment option in the patient with arachnoid cysts located in the middle cranial fossa and cerebral convexity.

The injection of cadaver brains is invaluable for anatomic study, but cadavers that have been properly handled are not easy to obtain. A large number of cadavers pass through forensic departments around the world, and these cadavers could provide hundreds of research specimens, though they remain in the forensic unit for only a short time. The injection of a silicone mixture that quickly solidifies during autopsy would provide greater numbers of fresh specimens for study. The authors describe a technique for injecting a self-curing silicone mixture that can be used on autopsy specimens in a forensic unit. This technique does not interfere with routine autopsy findings. We describe the preparation of the mixture and autopsy specimens, the injection process, and the method for removing injected brains from cadavers. The solidifying process took a 1-h duration in this injection method and was in accord with autopsy procedure. The arterial bed was satisfactorily filled, and even small perforating branches and pial anastomoses were well demonstrated. Injecting autopsy specimens with the quick-solidifying silicone mixture allows anatomical studies of specimens even from cadavers admitted to forensic departments for only a short time. This method can provide neurosurgery laboratories with sufficient numbers of specimens appropriate for various studies.

Removing the broken pedicular screw after spinal hardware failure is usually problematic. A specially designed simple screwdriver and easy removal technique of broken pedicular screw with this screwdriver are described in this article.

Preoperative three-dimensional images with surface venous anatomy may be used in the planning of a linear scalp incision and the opening site of the dura mater for protection of surface veins during surgical dissection, and to find the splitting site of the brain according to the lesion. In 45 patients who had a brain tumor, linear scalp incision planning was done by regarding the three-dimensional images derived from post-contrast time-of-flight (TOF) sequence raw data. The findings of correspondence and the quality of routine contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and three-dimensional volume rendering for tissues (VRT) images were analyzed separately with the surgical findings according to a visual grading system. Our experience revealed that the surgical findings correlated well with the three-dimensional VRT images. According to a visual surgical grading system, a grade III correlation was found in 20 (45%), grade II in 15 (33%), grade I in 7 (15%), and grade 0 in 3 (7%) patients in our study population. At the end of our research we conclude that this method is useful in terms of the preoperative determination of brain surface anatomy and may be used in the determination of the site of a linear scalp incision according to the localization of an intracranial lesion.

Various surgical methods have been described for treating spinal metastases, namely, en bloc spondylectomy, minimally invasive techniques, and anterior and posterior approaches. The main goals in surgical intervention for these lesions are tumor removal and establishment of strong, durable stabilization. The least invasive method is always preferred. Posterior transpedicular spondylectomy meets all these needs, as this method achieves tumor excision and stabilization of the anterior and posterior spine through one posterior incision and in the same surgical session. The surgeon circumferentially excises a spinal metastasis and then achieves circumferential stabilization in the same session. Numerous circumferential stabilization methods have been used to date, including placement of free bone grafts or cages or acrylic grafts, or insertion of an acrylic graft supported by a Steinmann pin anteriorly and by posterior transpedicular fixators or a Luque rectangle posteriorly. This article describes seven cases of spinal metastasis in which an alternative circumferential stabilization technique known as "ghost screwing" was performed. The first step in this method is circumferential decompression, achieved with laminectomy followed by eggshell corpectomy via the transpedicular route. Then a short segmental transpedicular stabilization system is fixed to the vertebrae cranial and caudal to the laminectomy/corpectomy defect. Prior to fixing the rods in place, an additional screw is mounted on each rod such that the screw shaft protrudes into the defect space. Once the rods are fixed and the two extra screws are optimally positioned, acrylic bone cement is introduced into the defect site, encasing the ghost screws and forming an anterior graft upon hardening. The outcomes in our cases were excellent. All seven patients had uneventful postoperative periods and all experienced pain relief and were able to mobilize early. Direct connection of the anterior acrylic graft to the posterior fixation system via ghost screws makes this system strong and durable, and prevents subsidence or horizontal displacement of the graft. Such complications can be serious issues with other circumferential systems that use independent anterior and posterior fixators.