Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Jul 2019
Stereotactic radiosurgery with and without checkpoint inhibition for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer to the brain: a matched cohort study.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) improve survival in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Clinical trials examining the efficacy of ICIs in patients with NSCLC excluded patients with untreated brain metastases (BMs). As stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is commonly employed for NSCLC-BMs, the authors sought to define the safety and radiological and clinical outcomes for patients with NSCLC-BMs treated with concurrent ICI and SRS. ⋯ The concurrent use of ICI and SRS to treat NSCLC-BM was well tolerated while providing more rapid BM regression. Concurrent ICI did not increase peritumoral edema or rates of radiation necrosis. Further studies are needed to evaluate whether combined ICI and SRS improves progression-free survival and overall survival for patients with metastatic NSCLC.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Jul 2019
Ophthalmoplegic complications in transsphenoidal pituitary surgery.
Ophthalmoplegia is a rare complication of transsphenoidal surgery, only noted in a few studies. The purpose of this study was to analyze the complications of cranial nerve III, IV, or VI palsy after transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary adenoma and understand its physiopathology and outcome. ⋯ Extraocular nerve dysfunction after transsphenoidal pituitary surgery is a rare complication that occurs more frequently in the case of the invasion or an important extension into the cavernous sinus. In this series, it also appears to be significantly more frequent in patients operated on via an endoscopic approach. Most patients have deficits that appear with a delay of 12-72 hours postoperatively and they are most likely to completely recover.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Jul 2019
Murphey's teat: history and insight into an enigmatic cerebrovascular eponym.
Dr. Francis Murphey of the Semmes-Murphey Clinic in Memphis recognized that a focal sacculation on the dome of an aneurysm may be angiographic evidence of a culpable aneurysm in the setting of subarachnoid hemorrhage with multiple intracranial aneurysms present. This has been referred to as a Murphey's "teat," "tit," or "excrescence." With variability in terminology, misspellings in the literature, and the fact that Dr. Murphey did not formally publish this important work, the authors sought to clarify the meaning and investigate the origins of this enigmatic cerebrovascular eponym.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Jul 2019
Distance to white matter tracts is associated with deep brain stimulation motor outcome in Parkinson's disease.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) alleviates motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the underlying mechanism of tremor suppression is not well understood. Stimulation of white matter tracts, such as the dentatorubrothalamic tract (DRT), might be involved. Also, side effects, including dysarthria, might result from (unwanted) stimulation of white matter tracts in proximity to the STN. The aim of this study was to establish an association between stimulation effect on tremor and dysarthria and stimulation location relative to relevant white matter tracts. ⋯ Proximity to specific white matter tracts is associated with tremor outcome and side effects in DBS. This knowledge can help to optimize both electrode placement and postsurgical electrode contact selection. Presurgical white matter tract visualization may improve targeting and DBS outcome. These findings are of interest not only for treatment in PD, but potentially also for other (movement) disorders.