British journal of neurosurgery
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Decompressive craniectomy is often emergently performed in an effort to reduce intracranial hypertension. After this urgent intervention, brain-injured patients often start rehabilitation programs but are left with a skull defect. Cranioplasty is often performed in these situations in order to repair this defect, mainly for cosmetic reasons and/or the patient's safety. The possible effects of this breach on the patients' neurological recovery are poorly understood and have been scarcely evaluated until now. The effect of cranioplasty on cognitive and motor functions in severely brain-injured individuals remains controversial. ⋯ Results give clear evidence that a subset of patients are negatively affected by the persistence of a breach in skull integrity during the rehabilitation phase of brain injury. Moreover, they show that the repair of the cranial defect can trigger relevant neurological improvement in both motor and cognitive domains. This possibility should serve as a reminder to rehabilitation clinicians to give serious consideration to prompt performance of cranioplasty during the time allotted for the rehabilitation of these patients.
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Case Reports
De novo intracranial collision tumour in previously evacuated intracerebral haematoma site.
The authors report the rare and first documented case of intracranial collision tumour occurrence in a previously evacuated intracerebral haematoma site. Surgery trauma could predispose to collision tumour occurrence. Research efforts should try to reveal the possible pathogenesis of this condition.