Cent Eur Neurosurg
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In 95% of patients with an apparently normal distribution of blood using unenhanced computed tomography (CT), no ruptured aneurysm for a perimesencephalic subarachnoid hemorrhage (PMSAH) will be detected. In general, the clinical course of these patients is more favorable than that of patients with a detected ruptured aneurysm. We wanted to assess whether vessel variants of the vertebro-basilar circulation are more common in patients with PMSAH than in patients with SAH caused by intracranial aneurysms. Furthermore, we wanted to investigate whether CT angiography (CTA) as a sole diagnostic modality in PMSAH is sufficient. ⋯ Interestingly, an increased number of arterial vessel hypoplasia was detected in PMSAH patients. Furthermore, CTA as a sole diagnostic modality in patients with typical PMSAH is sufficient.
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In conventional MR imaging, it is often difficult to delineate the heterogeneous structure of gliomas. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging ((1)H-MRSI) is a noninvasive tool for investigating the spatial distribution of metabolic changes in brain lesions. The aim of this study was to assess the improvements in delineation of gliomas based on segmentation of metabolic changes measured with (1)H-MRSI. ⋯ Our method for automated segmentation of the lesion-related metabolic changes achieved significantly improved delineation for gliomas compared to routine clinical methods. We demonstrate that this method can improve delineation of tumor borders compared to routine imaging strategies in clinics. Metabolic images of the segmented tumor may thus be helpful for therapeutic planning.
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Case Reports
Outcome of craniocerebral gunshot injuries in the civilian population. Prognostic factors and treatment options.
Gunshot wounds to the head are rare in Europe. They may be inflicted by low-velocity handguns, captive bolt guns and tear gas cartridges and mostly result from suicide attempts. The experience of neurosurgeons with this kind of traumatic injury is decreasing; the aim of this study was therefore to analyse prognostic factors which help to decide whether or not to operate and to discuss treatment options. ⋯ Patients with a GCS of 3-8 and two non-reactive pupils should not be operated. If one or both of the pupils are reactive, surgery should be performed irrespective of the GCS score, except in patients with translobar/transventricular wounds. Even if there are no clear contraindications to surgery, the outcome is expected to be poor in patients with a low GCS score, midline shift >10 mm, >2 bone fragments in the brain, and a bilobar, posterior fossa/brainstem or ventricular lesion and ICP >45 mmHg. When surgery is performed the wound and the missile or bone track should be debrided meticulously, the wound and dura should be closed in a watertight fashion and antibiotic prophylaxis as well as tetanus serum should be given.
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Critical incident monitoring is an important tool for quality improvement and the maintenance of high safety standards. It was developed for aviation safety and is now widely accepted as a useful tool to reduce medical care-related morbidity and mortality. Despite this widespread acceptance, the literature has no reports on any neurosurgical applications of critical incident monitoring. We describe the introduction of a mono-institutional critical incident reporting system in a neurosurgical department. Furthermore, we have developed a formula to assess possible counterstrategies. ⋯ Implementation of the critical incident reporting system presented no technical problems. The reporting rate was high compared to that reported in the current literature. The formulation, evaluation and introduction of specific counterstrategies to guard against selected groups of incidents may improve patient safety in neurosurgical departments.