Neurosurgery
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Transcranial motor evoked potentials (tc-MEPs) are used to monitor the spinal cord intraoperatively. Volatile anesthetics considerably depress amplitudes of tc-MEPs. This study was undertaken to determine whether multipulse stimulation might overcome this depressant effect. ⋯ These data suggest that despite the powerful depressant effects of isoflurane on myogenic motor responses, tc-MEP monitoring during isoflurane anesthesia may be feasible, provided that multipulse stimulation paradigms are used and the concentration of isoflurane does not exceed 1 minimal anesthetic concentration unit.
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Review Case Reports
Nontraumatic atlanto-occipital and atlantoaxial rotatory subluxation: case report.
Concomitant atlantoaxial and atlanto-occipital subluxation resulting from any cause is extremely rare. We have found only five previously reported cases and describe another, suggesting a treatment plan. ⋯ Disruption of the occipito-atlanto-axial complex can result from relatively minor head and neck infections and should be suspected in children with persisting neck pain and decreased neck movements. It may not be necessary to perform an occipitoaxial fusion to treat these patients, and a more limited fusion may be successful.
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A variety of factors may affect surgical outcome in patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy. The aim of this study is to determine these factors on the basis of preoperative radiological and clinical data. ⋯ It can be concluded that age and abnormal cervical curvature predict less postoperative neurological improvement. The presence of preoperative high signal intensity within the spinal cord may also reflect less neurological improvement.
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Stereotactic radiosurgery is increasingly being used to treat hemangioblastomas, particularly those that are in surgically inaccessible locations or that are multiple, as is common in von Hippel-Lindau disease. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the effectiveness of radiosurgery in the treatment of hemangioblastomas. ⋯ Although follow-up monitoring is limited, stereotactic radiosurgery provides a high likelihood of local control of hemangioblastomas and is an attractive alternative to multiple surgical procedures for patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease.
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Before 1937, members of the Department of Surgery and Gynecology practiced emergency neurosurgery at the University of Virginia in the same fashion as in other hospitals in the United States. In 1937, Claude C. Coleman, Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, organized a Division of Neurosurgery as part of the Department of Surgery and Gynecology at the University of Virginia. ⋯ Laws, Jr., in 1992, Dheerendra Prasad in 1995, Gregory Helm in 1996, and Mark Shaffrey in 1997. Resident training has been a priority of the Department of Neurosurgery; many academic neurosurgeons were trained and practiced their specialty in the Department early in their careers. Sixty years after its foundation, the Department of Neurosurgery continues its commitment to patient care, research, and the "... instruction of those who come after us."