Stereotactic and functional neurosurgery
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Stereotact Funct Neurosurg · Jan 2016
Teflon Might Be a Factor Accounting for a Failed Microvascular Decompression in Hemifacial Spasm: A Technical Note.
Although Teflon is widely adopted for microvascular decompression (MVD) surgery, it has never been addressed for failure analysis. This study analyzed the reasons for failed MVDs with emphasis on the Teflon sponge. ⋯ Although it is not difficult for an experienced neurosurgeon to discover a neurovascular conflict during the MVD process, the size, shape and location of the Teflon sponge should not be ignored. Basically, the Teflon insert is used to keep the offending artery away from the facial nerve root rather than to isolate it. Therefore, the ideal Teflon sponge should be just small enough to produce a neurovascular separation.
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Stereotact Funct Neurosurg · Jan 2016
Effect of Subthalamic Nucleus Stimulation on Pedunculopontine Nucleus Neural Activity.
The pedunculopontine nucleus has recently been proposed as an alternative target for deep brain stimulation for the treatment of medically intractable Parkinson's disease. The suggested indication for pedunculopontine nucleus deep brain stimulation is severe and medically intractable axial symptoms such as gait and postural impairment. ⋯ The result of this study provides additional evidence to improve our understanding of the mechanism of subthalamic nucleus-deep brain stimulation, and its physiological consequences.
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Stereotact Funct Neurosurg · Jan 2015
Long-term results of motor cortex stimulation in the treatment of chronic, intractable neuropathic pain.
Although motor cortex stimulation (MCS) has been used for more than 20 years in the treatment of chronic neuropathic pain, there is still a debate about the efficacy of MCS. ⋯ MCS was more effective in the treatment of chronic neuropathic pain of central poststroke pain and peripheral neuropathic pain types than in the treatment of SCI pain in the long-term follow-up.
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Stereotact Funct Neurosurg · Jan 2015
Case ReportsGlobus pallidus internus deep brain stimulation as rescue therapy for refractory dyskinesias following effective subthalamic nucleus stimulation.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) at the subthalamic nucleus (STN) or globus pallidus internus (GPi) can effectively treat the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease, but dual implantation is rare. We report the first cases of additional GPi stimulation as rescue therapy for disabling dyskinesias following successful STN stimulation. ⋯ Additional bilateral GPi DBS may be considered in the rare instance of patients who develop refractory dyskinesias early or late after bilateral STN DBS.
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Stereotact Funct Neurosurg · Jan 2015
Successful use of high-frequency spinal cord stimulation following traditional treatment failure.
High-frequency spinal cord stimulation (HFSCS) offers an alternative treatment for chronic refractory pain syndromes nonresponsive to traditional spinal cord stimulation (SCS). Following the conflicting findings of preliminary HFSCS clinical studies performed at 5-10 kHz, this study is the first to report successful clinical usage of 1-kHz frequency SCS with a standard generator. ⋯ HFSCS at the frequency of 1 kHz offers a new tool for treatment of chronic pain in patients with traditional stimulation settings. Furthermore, most standard SCS batteries are capable of delivering stimulation in this frequency range.