Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Apr 2014
An extent of resection threshold for recurrent glioblastoma and its risk for neurological morbidity.
Despite improvements in the medical and surgical management of patients with glioblastoma, tumor recurrence remains inevitable. For recurrent glioblastoma, however, the clinical value of a second resection remains uncertain. Specifically, what proportion of contrast-enhancing recurrent glioblastoma tissue must be removed to improve overall survival and what is the neurological cost of incremental resection beyond this threshold? ⋯ For recurrent glioblastomas, an improvement in overall survival can be attained beyond an 80% EOR. This survival benefit must be balanced against the risk of neurological morbidity, which does increase with more aggressive cytoreduction, but only in the early postoperative period. Interestingly, this putative EOR threshold closely approximates that reported for newly diagnosed glioblastomas, suggesting that for a subset of patients, the survival benefit of microsurgical resection does not diminish despite biological progression.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Apr 2014
Assessment of a noninvasive cerebral oxygenation monitor in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.
Development of a noninvasive monitor to assess cerebral oxygenation has long been a goal in neurocritical care. The authors evaluated the feasibility and utility of a noninvasive cerebral oxygenation monitor, the CerOx 3110, which uses near-infrared spectroscopy and ultrasound to measure regional cerebral tissue oxygenation in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), and compared measurements obtained using this device to those obtained using invasive cerebral monitoring. ⋯ Measuring regional cerebral tissue oxygenation with the CerOx monitor in a noninvasive manner is feasible in patients with severe TBI in the neurointensive care unit. The correlation between the CerOx measurements and the jugular bulb venous measurements of oxygen saturation indicate that the CerOx may be able to provide an estimation of cerebral oxygenation status in a noninvasive manner.
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Despite the progress made in the management of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), many patients complain of persistent psychosocial and cognitive problems. The present study was performed to explore the significance of psychological traumatization by the bleeding with respect to psychosocial results after SAH. ⋯ Even several years after SAH, the severity of psychological traumatization by the bleeding substantially determines the degree of psychosocial impairment. In the future, this issue should be addressed in the care of these patients. Furthermore, the development of psychological interventions is called for to prevent the emergence of PTSD after SAH.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Apr 2014
Fiber tractography of the axonal pathways linking the basal ganglia and cerebellum in Parkinson disease: implications for targeting in deep brain stimulation.
Stimulation of white matter pathways near targeted structures may contribute to therapeutic effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for patients with Parkinson disease (PD). Two tracts linking the basal ganglia and cerebellum have been described in primates: the subthalamopontocerebellar tract (SPCT) and the dentatothalamic tract (DTT). The authors used fiber tractography to evaluate white matter tracts that connect the cerebellum to the region of the basal ganglia in patients with PD who were candidates for DBS. ⋯ The SPCT and the DTT may be related to the expression of symptoms in PD, and this may have implications for DBS targeting. The use of tractography to identify the DTT might assist with DBS targeting in the future.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Apr 2014
Reduced ethanol consumption by alcohol-preferring (P) rats following pharmacological silencing and deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens shell.
There is increasing interest in deep brain stimulation (DBS) for the treatment of addiction. Initial testing must be conducted in animals, and the alcohol-preferring (P) rat meets the criteria for an animal model of alcoholism. This study is composed of 2 experiments designed to examine the effects of 1) pharmacological inactivation and 2) DBS of the nucleus accumbens shell (AcbSh) on the consumption of alcohol by P rats. ⋯ Pharmacological silencing and DBS of the AcbSh reduced EtOH intake after chronic EtOH use had been established in rodents. The AcbSh is a neuroanatomical substrate for the reinforcing effects of alcohol and may be a target for surgical intervention in cases of alcoholism.