Neurosurgery
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High-resolution vessel wall imaging plays an increasingly important role in assessing the risk of aneurysm rupture. ⋯ Aneurysmal wall enhancement shows strong associations with decreased intrasaccular IL-10 and established morphological indicators of aneurysm instability.
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Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and carotid artery stenting (CAS) represent options to treat many patients with carotid stenosis. Although randomized trial data are plentiful, estimated rates of morbidity and mortality for both CEA and CAS have varied substantially. ⋯ In a propensity-matched analysis of a large, prospectively collected, national, surgical database, CAS was associated with increased odds of periprocedural stroke, which increased over time. Rates of MI and death were not significantly different between the 2 procedures.
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Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is an effective treatment in chronic neuropathic pain, but its efficacy in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) needs to be proven. ⋯ Despite the fact that CRPS patients were not able to discontinue or reduce their strong opioid or neuropathic pain medication use, 70% continued to use their SCS device during a median 8-yr follow-up.
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The Food and Drug Administration approved the deep brain stimulation of the anterior nucleus of the thalamus (ANT-DBS) as an adjunctive therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) in the United States in 2018. The DBS Therapy for Epilepsy Post-Approval Study is further evaluating the safety and effectiveness of ANT-DBS among different patients' groups. For this study, devices for vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) must be removed prior to enrolment. ⋯ ANT-DBS for DRE provides excellent results despite previous and ongoing VNS therapy. Removal of VNS does not appear to be necessary before ANT-DBS.
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The Nationwide Inpatient Sample Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (SAH) Severity Score (NIS-SSS) was developed as a measure of SAH severity for use in administrative databases. The NIS-SSS consists of International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision (ICD-9) diagnostic and procedure codes derived from the SAH inpatient course and has been validated against the Hunt-Hess score (HH). ⋯ The NIS-SSS and m-NIS-SSS have good external validity, and therefore, may be suitable to approximate traditional clinical scores of disease severity in SAH research using administrative data.