Background:Incidence of vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) is increasing due to increase in human life expectancy and prevalence of osteoporosis. Vertebroplasty had been traditional treatment for pain, but it neither attempts to restore vertebral body height nor eliminates spinal deformity and is associated with a high rate of cement leakage. Balloon kyphoplasty involves introduction of inflatable balloon into the fractured body of vertebra for elevation of the end-plates prior to fixation of the fracture with bone cement. This study evaluates short term functional and radiological outcomes of balloon kyphoplasty. The secondary aim is to explore short-term complications of the procedure.Materials and Methods:A retrospective study of 199 kyphoplasty procedures in 135 patients from March 2009 to March 2012 were evaluated with short form-36 (SF-36) score, visual analogue scale (VAS), detailed neurological and radiological evaluations. The mean followup was 18 months (range 12–20 months). Statistical analysis including paired sample t-test was done with statistical package for social sciences.Results:Statistically significant improvements in SF-36 (from 34.29 to 48.53, an improvement of 14.24, standard deviation (SD) - 20.08 P < 0.0001), VAS (drop of 4.49, from 6.74 to 2.24, SD - 1.44, P < 0.0001), percentage restoration of lost vertebral height (from 30.62% to 16.19%, improvement of 14.43%, SD - 15.37, P < 0.0001) and kyphotic angle correction (from 17.41° to 10.59°, improvement of 6.82, SD - 7.26°, P < 0.0001) were noted postoperatively. Six patients had cement embolism, 65 had cement leak and three had adjacent level fracture which required repeat kyphoplasty later. One patient with history of ischemic heart disease had cardiac arrest during the procedure. No patients had neurological deterioration in the followup period.Conclusions:Kyphoplasty is a safe and effective treatment for VCFs. It improves physical function, reduces pain and corrects kyphotic deformity.

Aim: A detailed histopathological examination of the samples collected from morbid jungle crow was performed to know the cause of death. Materials and Methods: Gross as well as histopathological examination was conducted. The suspected tissues get processed by formalin fixation and paraffin embedding technique. Result: On gross examination, dry pox lesions were seen on the external body surface whereas no internal lesions were observed. However on histopathological examination, the keratin layer of the epidermis was found to be intact and there was extensive proliferation of subdermal connective tissue infiltrated with polymorph mononuclear (PMN) cells. There was marked ballooning of keratinocytes. Swollen keratinocytes had enlarged pleomorphic and hyper-chromatic nuclei. Several keratinocytes also showed presence of eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusions (Bollinger bodies) which was considered confirmatory. Conclusion: Avipoxvirus infection was noticed in a jungle crow. On histopathological study, proliferation of subdermal connective tissue, swollen keratinocytes, pleomorphic and hyper-chromatic nucleus and eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusions were noticed.

Lymphoplasmacyte-rich meningioma is a rare variant of World Health Organization (WHO) Grade I meningioma, which may present as diffuse granulomatous disease with leptomeningeal spread. Here, we report a case of 61 years old man who presented with gradual onset of progressive quadriperesis. Patient was initially treated with antitubercular medications as imaging studies and serum markers were suggestive of granulomatous lesion. Surgical intervention was adviced as patient did not respond to medical management. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry confirmed the diagnosis of lymphoplasmacyte-rich meningioma. This meningioma can present as diffuse leptomeningeal infiltrative lesion involving both the hemispheres and all the tentorial surfaces mimicking inflammatory lesion. Tuberculosis is very common in our part and the diffuse infiltrative nature oflymphoplasmacyte-rich meningioma with similar radiological features of these two pathologies may confuse and delay the diagnosis. Recognition of this entity is of utmost importance as it guides proper management.

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Cysts occupying the third ventricle are rare lesions and may appear as an unusual cause of hydrocephalic crisis. A 40-year old woman with headache and one episode of fainting attack was diagnosed with a cystic lesion in the third ventricle after brain MRI study. She was operated with the pre-operative diagnosis of a colloid cyst. A yellowish, thick and mucoid cyst was observed intra-operatively. The total removal of the cyst was done along with the cyst wall. On histopathological evaluation, the cyst wall was lined by ciliated cuboidal to pseudostratified columnar epithelium resting on an eosinophilic basement membrane. The ultrastructural study showed the characteristic 9+2 pattern of cilia. Immunohistochemistry showed positive staining for epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), cytokeratin (CK), and negative staining for Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Histopathological and ultrastructural findings confirm the diagnosis of a colloid cyst of third ventricles favoring the endodermal origin of the cyst.