Neurosurgery
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Historical Article
An intriguing fragment of pre-hippocratic medicine in Aeschylus.
Information scattered in several passages of Greek tragedies of the 5th century BC contributes to our knowledge of pre-Hippocratic medicine and throws light on the cultural background of the Hippocratic writers. In this regard, the work of Aeschylus is noteworthy, because it contains fragments of an ideal-conjectural conception preceding the empirical approach based on observation and experience. The idealized meaning attributed to the term muupsilonepsilonlambdaóç (marrow), compared with both Homeric epics and Hippocratic writings, represents a reliable index of the evolution of the ancient medical thought.
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Cerebral ischemia is the most worrisome perioperative complication of carotid endarterectomy (CEA). The stroke rate occurring with CEA is estimated to range from 2.3 to 6.3%. Numerous treatment options are available to the neurosurgeon in this scenario, although no "gold standard" exists. ⋯ To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of abciximab administered intravenously in the setting of acute thromboembolic brain ischemia after CEA. For the unique situation in which an acute thrombus, or white clot, is thought to be the cause of cerebral ischemia, we believe that abciximab may offer an effective and potentially safer alternative than fibrinolytics and may be a more appropriate drug to use from a physiological perspective.
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Review Case Reports
Delayed resolution of Chiari I-associated hydromyelia after posterior fossa decompression: case report and review of the literature.
The expected time interval for resolution of hydromyelia after Chiari I decompression is lacking in the literature. This case report highlights one instance of delayed resolution of Chiari-induced hydromyelia. ⋯ Unfortunately, this is an area in which the literature is lacking. With this case as a nidus, studies are now necessary to determine the range of time necessary for Chiari I malformation-related hydromyelia to resolve.