Pseudocyst formation is a rare complication of ventriculo-peritoneal shunt, occurring in only 22 cases of 1300 shunts from 1968 to 1992. The most common presentation is that of abdominal signs rather than neurological or infectious signs. The diagnosis is easy with ultrasonography. The difficulty is to evocate the cyst and to correlate symptoms and cyst. Treatment of the cyst was by aspiration (21 cases) and excision in 7 cases. The therapeutic choice is made according to the ultrasound findings. When the cyst was infected, an external ventricular shunt was used temporary, but this type of shunt must be avoided where possible. Three patients died.

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A case of an osteoblastoma located in the odontoid process in a 7 year-old boy who presented with torticollis is reported. CT scan and MRI disclosed the lesion, but diagnosis was established by a CT-guided needle biopsy. Surgery through a transoral approach allowed total excision of the tumor. This is, to our knowledge, the first case reported of an osteoblastoma of the odontoid process.

A 42-year-old man with a history of benign incidental dorsal trauma 5 years earlier presented with progressive weakness of the right leg for 2 years. Clinical examination revealed decreased left-sided pain, temperature, and light touch sensation below the level of T2, right leg weakness, normal proprioception, and increased deep tendon reflexes in the right leg, in absence of bladder dysfunction. Spinal MRI showed herniation of the ventral spinal cord to the left at level T1 (figure). A diagnosis of transdural spinal cord herniation (TSCH) was made. TSCH is a rare cause of progressive myelopathy. TSCH is reported after spinal trauma or herniated disc surgery.1 Spontaneous cases are also described.2 Patients usually present with a Brown-Séquard-like syndrome or progressive paraparesis.

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