Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Jun 2011
Geographic variation and regional trends in adoption of endovascular techniques for cerebral aneurysms.
Considerable evolution has occurred in treatment options for cerebral aneurysms. Development of endovascular techniques has produced a significant change in the treatment of ruptured and unruptured intracranial aneurysms. Adoption of endovascular techniques and increasing numbers of patients undergoing endovascular treatment may affect health care expenditures. Geographic assessment of growth in endovascular procedures has not been assessed. ⋯ The NIS database reveals a significant increase in the use of endovascular techniques, with the majority of both ruptured and unruptured aneurysms treated endovascularly by 2008. Differences in hospital costs between open and endovascular techniques are likely secondary to patient and site-of-service factors. Presentation with SAH was the primary factor affecting hospital cost and a greater percentage of endovascular procedures completed at urban academic medical centers. There is substantial regional variation in the adoption of endovascular techniques.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Jun 2011
Impact of temozolomide chemotherapy on seizure frequency in patients with low-grade gliomas.
Seizures occur in approximately 80% of patients with low-grade gliomas (LGGs). The majority of patients are treated with anticonvulsant monotherapy; however, many patients require multidrug therapy, or their seizures are refractory to antiepileptic drugs altogether. The oral alkylating agent temozolomide has emerged as a potential initial treatment option for LGG. A few reports suggest an association between temozolomide and reduced seizure frequency in patients with intractable epilepsy. ⋯ The authors' data suggest that a subset of patients with LGGs experience improvement in seizure frequency during treatment with temozolomide independent of antiepileptic drug adjustment. This decrease in seizure frequency appears independent of the natural history of seizures in patients whose tumors are under observation. Consequently, seizures in patients with LGGs may be better controlled with the combination of AEDs and temozolomide.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Jun 2011
Vertebral artery pexy for microvascular decompression of the facial nerve in the treatment of hemifacial spasm.
Hemifacial spasm (HFS) is caused by arterial or venous compression of cranial nerve VII at its root exit zone. Traditionally, microvascular decompression of the facial nerve has been an effective treatment for posterior inferior and anterior inferior cerebellar artery as well as venous compression. The traditional technique involves Teflon felt or another construct to cushion the offending vessel from the facial nerve, or cautery and division of the offending vein. However, using this technique for severe vertebral artery (VA) compression can be ineffective and fraught with complications. The authors report the use of a new technique of VA pexy to the petrous or clival dura mater in patients with HFS attributed to a severely ectatic and tortuous VA, and detail the results in a series of patients. ⋯ Hemifacial spasm and other neurovascular syndromes are effectively treated by repositioning the compressing artery. Careful study of the preoperative MR images may identify a select group of patients with HFS due to an ectatic VA. Rather than traditional decompression with only pledget placement, these patients may benefit from a VA pexy to provide an effective, safe, and durable resolution of their symptoms while minimizing surgical complications.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Jun 2011
Biography Historical ArticleCushing and the treatment of brain wounds during World War I.
Harvey Cushing, perhaps the most important founder of American neurosurgery, was an Army neurosurgeon in France from 1917 to 1918. Over a 3-month period in 1917 he and his team operated on 133 soldiers with a brain wound. The operative mortality rate for their last 45 patients was 29%, considerably lower than the usual postoperative mortality rate of approximately 50% for those with a brain wound. ⋯ As the decades passed he was eventually credited as the "originator of brain wound care." This report shows that these attributions are misplaced. Cushing merely followed the enlightened surgical precepts of the time developed by Continental (European) surgeons. It also examines Cushing's writings to ascertain how these misperceptions concerning his originality might have been generated.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Jun 2011
Quality of life in patients with intracranial gliomas: the impact of modern image-guided surgery.
Outcome following brain tumor operations is often assessed by health professionals using various gross function scales. However, surprisingly little is known about how modern glioma surgery affects quality of life (QOL) as reported by the patients themselves. In the present study the authors aimed to assess changes in QOL after glioma surgery, to explore the relationship between QOL and traditional outcome parameters, and to examine possible predictors of change in QOL. ⋯ The surgical procedures per se may not significantly alter QOL in the average patient with glioma; however, new deficits have a major undesirable effect on QOL. It seems that the active use of intraoperative ultrasonography may be associated with a preservation of QOL. The EQ-5D seems like a good outcome measure with a strong correlation to traditional variables while offering a more detailed description of outcome.