Neurosurgery
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Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF) receptor gene amplification is commonly seen in cancer and is the target of many therapies. EGF receptor variant III (EGFRvIII) is the most common variant of the EGF receptor and has been detected in a large percentage of patients with glioblastoma multiforme but not in normal brain. Therapies targeting EGFRvIII are currently being investigated in clinical and preclinical trials. ⋯ This is the first report of EGFRvIII expression in a pineal tumor. It is interesting that this variant is detected in the absence of EGF receptor gene amplification. A larger study evaluating the presence of EGFRvIII in pineal tumors is needed.
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Deep brain stimulation is an alternative treatment for advanced Parkinson's disease. Levodopa medications are usually discontinued the night before surgery to localize the optimal response site to intraoperative macrostimulation. However, abrupt withdrawal of medication may result in side effects. We report a case of parkinsonism-hyperpyrexia syndrome (PHS), a rare complication resulting from discontinuation of antiparkinsonian medication, after a deep brain stimulation (DBS) procedure for bilateral subthalamic-nucleus (STN). ⋯ Physicians should be aware of the possibility of PHS after a deep brain stimulation procedure. If the patient shows unexplained changes in consciousness with hyperpyrexia after surgery, PHS should be considered and adequate treatment should be given immediately to prevent death.
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Spinal cord stimulation is commonly used for neuropathic pain modulation. The major side effect is the onset of paresthesia. The authors describe a new stimulation design that suppresses pain as well as, or even better than, the currently used stimulation, but without creating paresthesia. ⋯ The authors present a new method of spinal cord stimulation using bursts that suppress neuropathic pain without the mandatory paresthesia. Pain suppression seems as good as or potentially better than that achieved with the currently used stimulation. Average follow-up after nearly 2 years (20.5 months) suggests that this stimulation design is stable.
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In the May 2009 issue of The Lancet Neurology, the 5-year follow-up results of the International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial (ISAT) were published. The authors concluded that, although the significant difference between coiling and neurosurgical clipping of ruptured intracranial aneurysms in terms of death and severe disability after 1 year has vanished (primary endpoint), coiling should still be favored over neurosurgical clipping because mortality rates significantly favored coiling. ⋯ This modified intent-to-treat analysis clearly demonstrates that the significant advantage in terms of mortality in favor of the endovascularly treated patients is no longer present, with a hazard ratio of 0.80 in favor of endovascular treatment (95% confidence interval: 0.60-1.05; P = .10). Therefore, for everyday clinical practice and decision making, coiling and clipping are to be considered equivalent in the long term.
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significant constraints on an individual's quality of life. ⋯ PNIs are complex injuries that primarily affect males in key years of adulthood, frequently requiring high-cost acute surgical repair. Although there has been a slight decline in their incidence in the past decade, treatment cost has increased.