Contralateral pupillary dilatation and hemiparesis: Kernohan’s notch revisited

Intracranial mass lesions can lead to transtentorial uncal herniation, and pupillary asymmetry is a well-recognized sign of impending cerebral herniation. Impending uncal herniation can lead to ipsilateral, bilateral, or uncommonly the contralateral pupillary dilatation. We report a case of a 22-year old, who had contralateral pupillary dilatation due to expanding intracranial mass lesion and recovered well after neurosurgical intervention. This case illustrates contralateral pupillary dilatation (“false-localizing” sign) in a sub-group of patients, and if untreated and ICP continues to rise, this is followed by ipsilateral pupil dilatation.

Fatal Liver and Lung Alveolar Echinococcosis with Newly Developed Neurologic Symptoms due to the Brain Involvement

The fox tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis causes human alveolar echinococcosis, commonly affecting the liver. However, in ∼1% of cases, systematic spread of the disease involves the brain as well. A patient had a 6-year history of liver and lung alveolar echinococcosis that was considered not suitable for surgery, and treatment with albendazole was introduced. After the appearance of neurologic disturbances, an intracranial mass lesion was demonstrated by radiologic imaging. The lesion was surgically removed, and histologic analysis revealed metacestode tissue of E. multilocularis. Despite the surgical resection of the lesion, the patient died of progression of systemic alveolar echinococcosis. The authors highly recommend implementing neurologic monitoring to the follow-up algorithm for patients with systemically disseminated alveolar echinococcosis. When neurologic symptoms occur, radiologic imaging of the brain should be obtained immediately. Surgery should be considered for all intracranial echinococcal lesions, unless the lesion is located in the eloquent brain area.