Neurosurgery
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Superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery (STA-MCA) anastomosis prevents cerebral ischemic attack by improving cerebral blood flow in patients with occlusive cerebrovascular disease and hemodynamic compromise. Recent evidence suggests that focal cerebral hyperperfusion is a potential complication of this procedure for moyamoya disease. ⋯ Symptomatic cerebral hyperperfusion is a potential complication of STA-MCA anastomosis, especially in patients with moyamoya disease. Accurate diagnosis and adequate management of hyperperfusion are recommended, especially in patients with moyamoya disease.
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Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been proven to alleviate tremor of various origins. Distinct regions have been targeted. One explanation for good clinical tremor control might be the involvement of the dentatorubrothalamic tract (DRT) as has been suggested in superficial (thalamic) and inferior (posterior subthalamic) target regions. Beyond a correlation with atlas data and the postmortem evaluation of patients treated with lesion surgery, proof for the involvement of DRT in tremor reduction in the living, the scope of this work, is elusive. ⋯ This is the first time the involvement of the DRT in tremor reduction through DBS has been shown in the living. The combination of DTI with postoperative CT and the evaluation of the electrophysiological environment of distinct electrode contacts led to an individual detailed fiber map and might be extrapolated to refined DTI-based targeting strategies in the future. Data acquisition for a larger study group is the topic of our ongoing research.
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Review Comparative Study
Prevention of ventriculostomy-related infections with prophylactic antibiotics and antibiotic-coated external ventricular drains: a systematic review.
Ventriculostomy-related infection (VRI) is a severe complication of external ventricular drain use, occurring in 5% to 23% of patients. Preventive measures for VRI include prolonged prophylactic systemic antibiotics (PSAs) and an antibiotic-coated external ventricular drains (ac-EVDs). ⋯ RCTs and observational-derived evidence support the use of PSAs throughout the duration of external ventricular drainage; similarly, the use of ac-EVDs to prevent VRI seems to be beneficial. Available data are heterogeneous and of suboptimal quality. Further research is needed to confirm the findings of this meta-analysis. There are not sufficient data to compare the protective effect of ac-EVDs and PSAs.
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Comparative Study
Minimally invasive lumbar interbody fusion in patients older than 70 years of age: analysis of peri- and postoperative complications.
The number of spine operations performed in the elderly population is rising. ⋯ Minimally invasive interbody fusions can be performed in the elderly (ages 70 years and older) with an overall low rate of major complications. Graft subsidence in this population when not supplemented with posterior instrumentation is a concern. Age should not be a deterrent to performing complex minimally invasive interbody fusions in the elderly.
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Comparative Study
Frame-based vs frameless placement of intrahippocampal depth electrodes in patients with refractory epilepsy: a comparative in vivo (application) study.
Despite progress in imaging technologies, documentation of unifocal electrical excitability is pivotal in patient selection for epilepsy surgery. ⋯ The VBH and frame-based systems offer similar in vivo accuracy for intrahippocampal DE placement. With frame-based methods, accuracy is higher but the number of contacts per side is lower. This does not translate to clinically important differences.