Background:The incidence of tuberculosis is increasing, and skeletal tuberculosis accounts for 10-20% of all extrapulmonary cases. Spinal tuberculosis occurs mostly in children and young adults. It causes bone destruction, spinal deformity and neural complications.Materials and Methods:Our study includes 37 children (below 15 years of age) with spinal tuberculosis treated in our department in the last 6 years. The demographic data, clinical profile, surgical intervention and outcome of these children are reported.Results:The mean age ranged from 4 to 15 years, with an average of 9.1 years, and the male/female ratio was 1.8. Thirty patients (81%) had progressive inflammatory rachialgia and only six patients (16.2%) had neurological symptoms. The lumbar spine was mostly affected (23 cases). All patients have benefited from antituberculous chemotherapy (Regimen 2SRHZ/10RH) associated with spinal immobilization during 3 months. The surgical treatment was indicated in seven patients because of the presence of large bilateral abscess of the psoas muscle in one patient and the presence of severe neurological symptoms in the six remaining patients. The evolution was favorable in all cases, including those with neurological symptoms. There was no case of death and the length of follow-up for these patients ranged between 1 and 4 years.Conclusion:Spinal tuberculosis is still a prevalent disease in developing countries, mainly occurring in children. Complications of the disease can be devastating because of its ability to cause bone destruction, spinal deformity and paraplegia. Therefore, an early diagnosis and establishment of treatment are necessary to expect a good outcome.

Osteomas of the paranasal sinuses rarely lead to intracranial manifestations. We present an unusual case of a giant frontal sinus osteoma leading to subdural empyema formation. Determine the origin and the optimal surgical approach of these unusual lesions by analyzing giant osteomas of the frontal and ethmoidal sinuses in the literature. We report a rare case of giant frontoethmoidal osteoma with intracranial extension in a 34-year-old man, revealed by seizures. Neuroradiological studies revealed frontoparietal subdural empyema associated to a large osteoma in the right frontal sinus. The patient underwent surgical evacuation of the empyema and resection of the osteoma in one stage operation of decompressive craniotomy. The patient recovered very well after surgery and postoperative antibiotic therapy. This case represents in the literature only the third-reported case of subdural empyema complicating frontoethmoidal osteoma. The surgical treatment options, including open surgery techniques and endoscopic approaches, as well as pathogenesis are discussed according to the relevant literature.

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Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors (AT/RTs) of infancy are highly malignant central nervous system neoplasms that are most commonly seen during the first 2 years of life with limited therapeutic options. To date, only two cases have been described in the lateral ventricle. A 4-year-old boy presented with a 4-month history of increased intracranial pressure. Cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a huge intraventricular tumor, occupying the entire temporal horn and the body of the left lateral ventricle. The boy was operated through a left temporal transventricular approach with gross total removal of the lesion. The histopathological diagnosis was an AT/RT. The infant underwent adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The 1-year MRI of control showed a local recurrence of the tumor. Then after, Gamma Knife radiosurgery was performed because of the small volume and the deep location of the lesion. At the 3-month follow-up, the MRI showed a significant growth of the tumor volume, and the child was given additional adjuvant chemotherapy. Unfortunately, he died 9 months later. AT/RT of the lateral ventricle is a very rare tumor in children, associated with a poor prognosis in spite of multimodal treatment. Gamma knife surgery (GKS) was rarely reported as a treatment modality of AT/RT. The aim of this work is to discuss about the rarity of this tumor and the best treatment strategy to improve prognosis.