Neurosurgery
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Cervical spine deformities can have a significant negative impact on the quality of life by causing pain, myelopathy, radiculopathy, sensorimotor deficits, as well as inability to maintain horizontal gaze in severe cases. Many different surgical options exist for operative management of cervical spine deformities. However, selecting the correct approach that ensures the optimal clinical outcome can be challenging and is often controversial. We aim to provide an overview of cervical spine deformity in a 3-part series covering topics including the biomechanics, radiographic parameters, classification, treatment algorithms, surgical techniques, clinical outcome, and complication avoidance with a review of pertinent literature.
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Cost effectiveness has become an important factor in the health care system, requiring surgeons to improve efficacy of procedures while reducing costs. An awake craniotomy (AC) with direct cortical stimulation (DCS) presents one method to resect eloquent region tumors; however, some authors assert that this procedure is an expensive alternative to surgery under general anesthesia (GA) with neuromonitoring. ⋯ The total inpatient costs for awake craniotomies were lower than surgery under GA. This study suggests better cost effectiveness and neurological outcome with awake craniotomies for perirolandic gliomas.
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Cranioplasty after decompressive craniectomy (DC) is routinely performed for reconstructive purposes and has been recently linked to improved cerebral blood flow (CBF) and neurological function. ⋯ This systematic review suggests that cranioplasty improves CBF following DC with a concurrent improvement in neurological function. The causative impact of CBF on neurological function, however, requires further study.
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In 2012, a new computed tomography (CT) grading scale was introduced by the Barrow Neurological Institute group ("BNI scale") to predict angiographic and symptomatic vasospasm in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. ⋯ The BNI scale is easily applicable and superior to the original Fisher scale regarding prediction of angiographic vasospasm, new cerebral infarction, and patient outcome. Presence of intraventricular hemorrhage and intracerebral hemorrhage are additional radiographic factors with outcome relevance that are not part of the BNI scale. Established clinical scores like World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies and Hunt and Hess grading were more relevant for outcome prediction than any radiographic information.
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Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has emerged as a safe and efficacious surgical intervention for several movement disorders; however, the 30-day all-cause readmission rate associated with this procedure has not previously been documented. ⋯ All-cause 30-day readmission for DBS is 6.6%. This compares favorably to previously studied neurosurgical procedures. Readmissions frequently resulted from surgery-related complications, particularly infection, seizures, and hematomas, and were significantly associated with the presence of medical comorbidities ( P < .001).