File photo of a magnetic resonance image (MRI) of the brain. istockphoto A woman who had persistent headaches found there was a strange culprit for her pain: a Pilates class that caused her brain fluid to leak, according to a new case report. The brain fluid leak led to a persistent, worsening headache that was only alleviated when the 42-year-old British woman laid down, according to the report that was published in December in the Journal of Medical Case Reports. Though doctors never identified the exact location of the leak, the patient improved after a few weeks of bed rest and pain relievers. [The 16 Oddest Medical Cases] Cerebrospinal fluid is a clear liquid that flows between the brain and its outer covering, and between the spinal cord and its outer covering. Both of these structures' outer coverings are called the dura. This fluid cushions the brain and spinal cord and helps clear metabolic waste from the brain. However, sometimes holes can emerge in the dura, said Dr. Amber Luong, an otolaryngologist at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston. "The most common cause [of such leaks is] trauma, like a car accident," Luong told Live Science. Often, … Continue reading →

A California man is suing Aspen Valley Hospital and its former chief surgeon for $4 million as part of a medical-negligence lawsuit filed last week in federal court. Laurence Niles, 79, of Pacific Palisades, California, claims the hospital botched its treatment of him after he was admitted to the facilitys emergency room Feb. 17, 2013. As a result, he suffers from permanent brain injury and needs constant medical care, the suit alleges. The lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court of Denver by Denver law firms Bogue Paoli & Thomas LLC and Ogborn Mihm LLP, comes after Niles attorneys gave the hospital notice on Aug. 12, 2013, that they planned to sue. The defendants are Dr. Bill Rodman, who could not be reached Monday, and the Aspen Valley Hospital District, which said it had not seen the complaint and declined to comment about it. Niles was admitted to the hospital with a severe head injury, multiple rib fractures and other ailments from a ski collision, the suit says. Doctors concluded he potentially was suffering from subarachnoid hemorrhaging, or bleeding of the brain. The suit says the hospitals CAT scan was down Feb. 18 to Feb. 22 and … Continue reading →

Comments(0) Since the first patient was treated by neurosurgeons at Addenbrooke's 50 years ago, some of most cutting-edge techniques have developed which have become known about around the world. This ground-breaking care includes the removal of an incredibly rare cranial tapeworm, which lived in a British man's brain for four years before it was discovered. Before surgeons at Addenbrooke's found and removed the 1cm-long parasite, it left the 50-year-old man in pain and with memory problems as it travelled 5cm from the right side of his brain to the left. The rare worm was of a type never before found in the UK but it is believed people can become infected by accidentally eating tiny infected crustaceans from lakes, eating raw meat from reptiles and amphibians, or by using a raw frog poultice a Chinese remedy to calm sore eyes. This procedure along with many others including removing brain tumours whilst the patient is still awake and using a special 'pink drink' dye which stains cancerous tissue in the brain, both of which help to protect healthy brain tissue, have led to the hospital to becoming world renowned. Other cutting-edge techniques include 3D printing to provide bespoke body parts, developing … Continue reading →