Neurosurgery
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Biography Historical Article
The early history of neurosurgery in the American South.
As a specialty, neurosurgery was not on firm footing at the turn of the century (1900); however, it was brought into being in the American South early in the 20th century by seven young surgeons, all of whom performed neurosurgical procedures as part of their general surgery practice. A close look at the seven reveals that they were trained and/or influenced in varying degrees by either Dr. ⋯ Victor Horsley, two outstanding surgeons and teachers of this period. After overcoming many obstacles, these seven men firmly established the surgical specialty of neurosurgery in the South.
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To evaluate an integrated battery of preoperative functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) tasks developed to identify cortical areas associated with tactile, motor, language, and visual functions. ⋯ This integrated fMRI task battery offers standardized and noninvasive preoperative maps of multiple critical functions to facilitate assessment of surgical risk, planning of surgical routes, and direction of conventional, intraoperative electrophysiological procedures. Thus, a greater range of structural and functional relationships is brought to bear in the service of optimal outcomes for neurosurgery.
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To determine the patterns of relapse and the prognostic factors for adult medulloblastomas treated in the magnetic resonance imaging era. ⋯ Late relapse is common among adult patients with medulloblastomas, and long-term follow-up monitoring is important. Because of the high risk of systemic failure among the low-risk patients treated with radiotherapy alone, the role of chemotherapy for this group of patients needs to be further investigated. Complete resection, the absence of brainstem invasion, and an overall radiotherapy duration of less than 48 days are important prognostic factors.