In India all types of nervous disease exist, but very few spinal tumours are reported. This does not mean that the incidence of spinal tumours in this country is a rare phenomenon. The diagnosis of a spinal tumour is made by the clinical symptoms of (1) the root cycle usually unilateral; (2) the Brown-Sequard syndrome; (3) the compression paraplegia, and by special clinical tests such as lumbar...

We use intraoperative fluoroscopy with contrast medium for correct placement of lumbar catheters in lumboperitoneal (LP) shunts. The patients are in the left or right lateral decubitus position on a radiolucent operating table and a portable C-arm fluoroscope is placed vertically. After confirming the puncture level fluoroscopically, a lumbar puncture is performed. The catheter is introduced in...

CLINICAL QUESTION Is lumbar puncture still needed in suspected subarachnoid hemorrhage with a negative head computed tomographic scan performed within 6 hours of headache onset? ARTICLE CHOSEN Perry JJ, Stiell IG, Sivilotti ML, et al. Sensitivity of computed tomography performed within six hours of onset of headache for diagnosis of subarachnoid haemorrhage: prospective cohort study. BMJ 2011...

Evidence from prospective and retrospective clinical trials suggests that for infants <2 months old, only those at high risk for serious bacterial infection by standardized criteria (eg, Rochester classification) require lumbar puncture (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B, based on prospective and retrospective cohort studies). However, expert opinion suggests lumbar puncture on all infants ag...

Cerebral edema resulting in elevated intracranial pressure is a well-known complication of galactosemia. Lumbar puncture was performed for the diagnosis of clinically suspected bacterial meningitis. Herniation of cerebral tissue through the foramen magnum is not a common problem in neonatal intensive care units because of the open fontanelle in infants. We present the case of a 3-week-old infan...

We have investigated prospectively the incidence of bacterial contamination of 114 spinal and 20 epidural needles collected immediately after lumbar puncture of the subarachnoid or epidural space. Bacteriological examination revealed bacterial contamination of 24 (17.9%) of the needles, mainly coagulase-negative staphylococci (21; 15.7%) followed by yeasts (2; 1.5%), enterococcus (1; 0.8%), pne...

A subarachnoid hematoma is the rarest type of clot to form within the spinal canal [1]. Most " so-called " spontaneous cases are related to underlying spinal cord pathology or bleeding diathesis [2]. Another smaller but significant group of patients develop hematomas after lumbar puncture, once again, often with concurrent clotting abnormalities [1]. Our report discusses the myelographic featur...

With great interest, we read the study of Line Dussourd et al. concluding that ultrasonography allows better identification of anatomical structures before performing a lumbar puncture. We cannot concur with the conclusions of the study because the authors did not visualize the conus medullaris directly, nor did they assess the individual intervertebral levels. In our commentary, we make some s...

Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS) is a challenging pathology which diagnosis is based essentially on the clinical examination and the results of lumbar puncture. Differential diagnosis must be discussed if the clinical picture is not complete. We present the case of a patient who presented to the emergency department with symptoms evoking both GBS and spinal cord compression. The Radiology showed a...