Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 2022
Middle meningeal artery embolization for chronic subdural hematoma in cancer patients with refractory thrombocytopenia.
Surgical evacuation of chronic subdural hematoma (SDH) in cancer patients is often contraindicated owing to refractory thrombocytopenia. Middle meningeal artery embolization (MMAE) recently emerged as a potential alternative to surgical evacuation for patients with chronic SDH. The goal of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of MMAE for chronic SDH in cancer patients with refractory thrombocytopenia. ⋯ Transfemoral or transradial MMAE is a potential therapeutic option for thrombocytopenic cancer patients with SDH. However, treatment benefit may be marginal for patients with high disease burden and limited life expectancy. A prospective trial is warranted to address these questions.
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 2022
Triceps and cutaneous radial nerve branches investigated via an axillary anterior arm approach: new findings in a fresh-cadaver anatomical study.
The authors sought to describe the anatomy of the radial nerve and its branches when exposed through an axillary anterior arm approach. ⋯ The new understanding of radial nerve anatomy delineated in this study should aid surgeons during reconstructive surgery to treat upper-limb paralysis.
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 2022
Use of probabilistic tractography to provide reliable distinction of the motor and sensory thalamus for prospective targeting during asleep deep brain stimulation.
Accurate electrode placement is key to effective deep brain stimulation (DBS). The ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) of the thalamus is an established surgical target for the treatment of essential tremor (ET). Retrospective tractography-based analysis of electrode placement has associated successful outcomes with modulation of motor input to VIM, but no study has yet evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of prospective presurgical tractography-based targeting alone. Therefore, the authors sought to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of probabilistic tractography-based VIM targeting in ET patients and to perform a systematic comparison of probabilistic and deterministic tractography. ⋯ Probabilistic tractography-based VIM targeting is safe and effective for the treatment of ET. Probabilistic tractography is more precise than deterministic tractography for the delineation of VIM and the ventralis caudalis nucleus of the thalamus. Deterministic algorithms tended to underestimate separation between motor and sensory fibers, which may have been due to its limitations with crossing fibers. Larger studies across multiple centers are necessary to further validate this method.
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 2022
Predicting pituitary adenoma consistency with preoperative magnetic resonance elastography.
Pituitary adenoma is one of the most common primary intracranial neoplasms. Most of these tumors are soft, but up to 17% may have a firmer consistency. Therefore, knowing the tumor consistency in the preoperative setting could be helpful. Multiple imaging methods have been proposed to predict tumor consistency, but the results are controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of MR elastography (MRE) in predicting tumor consistency and its potential use in a series of patients with pituitary adenomas. ⋯ Whereas other MRI sequences have proven to be unreliable in determining tumor consistency, MRE has been shown to be a reliable tool for predicting adenoma consistency. Preoperative knowledge of tumor consistency could be potentially useful for surgical planning, counseling about potential surgical risks, and estimating the length of operative time.
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 2022
Follow-up imaging of clipped intracranial aneurysms with 3-T MRI: comparison between 3D time-of-flight MR angiography and pointwise encoding time reduction with radial acquisition subtraction-based MR angiography.
Metallic susceptibility artifact due to implanted clips is a major limitation of using 3D time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (TOF-MRA) for follow-up imaging of clipped aneurysms (CAs). The purpose of this study was to compare pointwise encoding time reduction with radial acquisition (PETRA) subtraction-based MRA with TOF-MRA in terms of imaging quality and visibility of clip-adjacent arteries for use in follow-up imaging of CAs. ⋯ This study demonstrated that PETRA-MRA is superior to TOF-MRA for visualizing adjacent vessels near clips and can be an advantageous alternative to TOF-MRA for follow-up imaging of CAs.