Fibroinflammatory Pseudotumor of the Temporal Bone

Um yeah, what a mouth full! Well a fibroinflammatory pseudotumor is said to be clinically malignant tumor but the lesions are said to be benign. It can occur in many places in the human body, but occurs rarely in the temporal bone. While there are very few that have this disease, symptoms were similar. Vertigo, pain, and swelling at the site are common. This isn's a very common disease of the temporal bone, but I want to list something different. The tumors are said to be slow growing but very apparent when in the temporal bone. In one case a women notice a increase in pain on her face and a loss of hearing that progressed over time. Once swelling occured she went to the hospital to get a MRI. Most are treated by surgery and the others with steroids and radiations. Some say it happens due to chronic infections or autoimmune problems.

References:http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2435470

http://www.ajnr.org/cgi/content/abstract/24/10/2092

CRANIOPHARYNGIOMA.....yeah say that 3 times fast :p

Well for my selection of a brain pathology, I picked Craniopharygioma! What a crazy name, right? I'm going to give some suggested origins, symptoms and treatment for this disease. ENJOY!

ORIGIN: Craniopharygioma is a calcified cystic tumor located in the craniopharyngeal duct and/or Rathke cleft (pouch that usually closes in early fetal developement). Basically there are two ideas for were this come from and why it occurs. The first is the embryogenetic theory which involves CP duct and Rathke cleft. It is suggested that the remnant ectoblastic cells which in turn transform and create this tumor. The second is the Metaplastic theory which is defined as: "the residual squamous epithelium (derived from stomodeum and normally part of the adenohypophysis), which may undergo metaplasia."HAHAHAHA, yeah I'm going to quote that peach of a definition. Now I will put that in "Sean terms." Basically the cells in the general area of interest were differentiated cells and during a period of time they changed into a different type of mature cell. :)


SYMPTOMS: Some of the most common symptons include headaches, endocrine dysfunctions, and visual problems. It is said that 80% of adults complain of a not so happy or healthy sexual drive and about 90% of the men complain of impotence while women complain of amenorrhea (no menstrual period). As far as I can tell, this brain tumor is looking pretty nasty. Good news though for the young patients with this disease, most under 20 years of age survive this disease. Survival rate for those older than 65 is poor.

TREATMENT: Most stated that surgery is a very popular treatment in a attempt to remove the tumor. Also radiation therapy and chemotherapy are popular choices of treatment.

CONCLUSION: In conclusion I would like to state that even though I did make jokes and try to entertain you readers, I want to make it clear that Craniopharyngioma is a very serious brain disease and it shouldnt be taken lightly. Joking his how I deal with sometimes boring and uninteresting topics and hopefully my little ad libs were not to annoying to read. For more information on this topic I strongly suggest checking out this website: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1157758-overview
I got most of my information from this site. Other definitions were taken from Wikipedia. for you further enjoyment I have added some pictures! Can you tell what types of images they are?