Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Sep 2018
Reduced long-term cost and increased patient satisfaction with rechargeable implantable pulse generators for deep brain stimulation.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has revolutionized the treatment of neurological disease, but its therapeutic efficacy is limited by the lifetime of the implantable pulse generator (IPG) batteries. At the end of the battery life, IPG replacement surgery is required. New IPGs with rechargeable batteries (RC-IPGs) have recently been introduced and allow for decreased reoperation rates for IPG replacements. The authors aimed to examine the merits and limitations of these devices. ⋯ RC-IPGs can provide DBS patients with long-term therapeutic benefit while minimizing the need for battery replacement surgery. The authors have implanted rechargeable stimulators in 206 patients undergoing DBS surgery, and here they demonstrate the cost-effectiveness and high patient satisfaction associated with this procedure.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Sep 2018
A rat study of the use of end-to-side peripheral nerve repair as a "babysitting" technique to reduce the deleterious effect of chronic denervation.
Functional recovery is disappointing after surgical repair of nerves that are injured far from their target organs and/or after delayed repair. In the former case, a nerve transfer that transects a distal nerve fascicle to innervate denervated targets is one strategy to promote nerve regeneration and functional recovery. An alternate strategy tested in this study is to perform an end-to-side neurorrhaphy to "babysit" (protect) the denervated distal nerve stump at the time of nerve repair and reduce the deleterious effect of chronic denervation on nerve regeneration. ⋯ These experiments in rats demonstrated that delayed nerve repair is more effective when the deleterious effects of chronic denervation of the distal nerve stump are reduced by protecting the nerve stump with ingrowing nerve fibers across an end-to-side insertion of the distal nerve stump into a neighboring intact nerve. Such an end-to-side neurorrhaphy may be invaluable as a means of preventing the atrophy of distal nerve stumps and target organs after chronic denervation, which allows for effective reinnervation of the protected distal nerve stumps and target organs over distance and time.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Sep 2018
Resection of gliomas deemed inoperable by neurosurgeons based on preoperative imaging studies.
OBJECTIVE Maximal safe resection is a primary objective in the management of gliomas. Despite this objective, surgeons and referring physicians may, on the basis of radiological studies alone, assume a glioma to be unresectable. Because imaging studies, including functional MRI, may not localize brain functions (such as language) with high fidelity, this simplistic approach may exclude some patients from what could be a safe resection. ⋯ The remainder of patients exhibited either residual but stable deficits (5.2%, 3 of 58) or complete correction of preoperative deficits (5.2%, 3 of 58). CONCLUSIONS The use of DES enabled maximal safe resections of gliomas deemed inoperable by referring neurosurgeons. With rare exceptions, tumor resectability cannot be determined solely by radiological studies.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Sep 2018
Case ReportsBrainstem pilocytic astrocytoma with H3 K27M mutation: case report.
In this report, the authors present the first case of adult brainstem pilocytic astrocytoma (PA) with the H3 K27M mutation. A 53-year-old man was incidentally found to have a 2.5-cm partially enhanced tumor in the tectum on MRI. The enhancement in the lesion increased over 3 years, and gross-total removal was performed via the occipital transtentorial approach. ⋯ However, although the radiological, surgical, and pathological findings all corresponded to PA, this entity can easily be misdiagnosed as diffuse midline glioma with the H3 K27M mutation, which is classified as a WHO Grade IV tumor according to the updated classification. This case highlights the phenotypic spectrum of PA, as well as the biology of the H3 K27M-mutated gliomas, and may prove to be an exception to the rule that diffuse midline gliomas with the H3 K27M mutation behave in an aggressive manner. Based on the findings of this case, the authors conclude that, in addition to detecting the existence of the H3 K27M mutation, an integrated approach in which a combination of clinical, pathological, and genetic information is used should be applied for accurate diagnosis and determination of the appropriate treatment for diffuse midline gliomas.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Sep 2018
The interperiosteodural concept applied to the jugular foramen and its compartmentalization.
OBJECTIVE The dura mater is made of 2 layers: the endosteal layer (outer layer), which is firmly attached to the bone, and the meningeal layer (inner layer), which directly covers the brain and spinal cord. These 2 dural layers join together in most parts of the skull base and cranial convexity, and separate into the orbital and perisellar compartments or into the spinal epidural space to form the extradural neural axis compartment (EDNAC). The EDNAC contains fat and/or venous blood. ⋯ These 2 dural layers joined together at the level of the petrous and occipital bones and separated at the inferior petrosal sinus and the sigmoid sinus, and around the lower cranial nerves, to form the EDNAC. Study of the dural sheaths allowed the authors to describe an original compartmentalization of the jugular foramen in 3 parts: 2 neural compartments-glossopharyngeal and vagal-and the interperiosteodural compartment. CONCLUSIONS In this dissection study, the existence of the EDNAC concept in the jugular foramen was demonstrated, leading to the proposal of a novel 3-part compartmentalization, challenging the classical 2-part compartmentalization, of the jugular foramen.