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Lipomatous meningiomas are rarely encountered and are included in the World Health Organization's (WHO) group of metaplastic meningiomas. We report two cases of these tumors. The presenting symptoms were headaches in one case and seizure in the other. Radiologically, these tumors were extra-axial and unique. One tumor displayed fat accumulation, while the other had the appearance of a conventional meningioma. Microscopically, these tumors corresponded to meningothelial and transitional meningiomas containing a variable proportion of adipose tissue composed of mature adipocytes or lipoblasts. Fat content was high in one case and moderate in the other, thus explaining the radiological findings. Expression of epithelial membrane antigen and progesterone receptors was present in meningothelial, adipocyte-like, and lipoblast-like cells. These immunohistochemical results suggest that lipid accumulation in meningioma should be considered a transformation of meningothelial cells rather than a true metaplasia.

Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament of the spine is a rare cause medullar compression.A 50-year-old man from Senegal was referred with recent-onset mechanical lumbar pain with proximal motor deficiency of the lower limbs and somatosensory disorders. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed layered medullar compression, due to anterior cervical and mixed anterior and posterior thoracic ossification. Corticosteroid treatment led to regression of the pain and neurological disorders within a few days.This case report of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament of the spine appears to be an idiopathic form corresponding to the "Japanese disease" initially thought to be limited to that population.

The purpose of this article is to clarify interactions between oral contraception (using low- and high-dose oral contraceptives) and the main neurological diseases occurring in genitally active women. Vascular disorders predominate, since contraception is in itself a well-recognized a risk factor, especially in case of other intercurrent risk factors (high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, history of vascular event) contradicting contraception. Low-dose oral contraception can be proposed for women free of these risk factors. There is however a formal contraindication for oral contraception, even with mini-dose contraceptives, for women with a history of cerebral venous thrombosis. In case of migraine headache, which is also a risk factor of vascular disease (especially in case of aura), oral contraceptives should be discussed on an individual basis, depending on the presence of other risk factors. Contraception has no effect on epilepsy but oral contraceptives may be inhibited by inducing anti-seizure drugs. Non-inducing drugs are preferable. The course of certain brain tumors known to express estrogen or progesterone receptors (particularly meningiomas and hemangioblastomas) may worsen with oral contraception, which is formally contradicted except when search for hormone receptors is negative. Oral contraception has no influence in other disease such as multiple sclerosis