Neurocirugia
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Review
[Intracranial dural arteriovenous fistulae. Experience after 81 cases and literature review].
To analyse the clinical, radiological and therapeutic variables of intracranial dural arteriovenous fistulae (DAVF) treated at our institution, and to assess the validity of the Borden and Cognard classifications and their correlation with the presenting symptoms. ⋯ The presence of CVD was significantly associated with aggressive presentations. The Borden and Cognard classifications showed little interobserver variability. Endovascular treatment for CS DAVF is safe and relatively effective. Surgical treatment of non-CS DAVF with CVD is safe, effective and the first choice treatment in our environment.
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Review Case Reports
[Bowstringing as a complication of deep brain stimulation].
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established surgical therapy for intractable movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, essential tremor and dystonia. As the number of treated patients has increased rapidly, new sets of problems about complications of DBS have arisen. Bowstringing is defined as abnormal tethering of leads between the pulse generators and stimulating electrode, associated with pain and contracture of the neck over the extension cable. ⋯ Six months after the replacement the patient presented disabling pain and tension in the neck where deep brain extension cables were located. A cervical incision was performed to excise scar tissue. Bowstringing is a rare complication of DBS and although patients sometimes report discomfort and tension in the cervical region, surgical procedures are not normally required.
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Review Case Reports
[Atypical choroid plexus papilloma in adults: case report and literature review].
Atypical choroid plexus papilloma is a rare tumour, recently defined by the World Health Organisation and with very few cases reported to date. Choroid plexus tumours are rare intraventricular neoplasms originating from choroid plexus epithelium, with benign papillomas being more frequent than carcinomas. Most of these lesions appear in children, mainly located in the lateral ventricles. Those arising from the fourth ventricle are more frequent in adulthood. Surgery with complete resection can be curative in papillomas, with 5-year survival rates close to 100% and occasional recurrences. Radical surgery in carcinomas is difficult and usually requires adjuvant therapy, prognosis is worse and survival rates are lower. We report a case of atypical choroid plexus papilloma in adulthood located in the fourth ventricle, describing the different therapeutic options and reviewing the existing literature. ⋯ Atypical choroid plexus papillomas are associated with an increased risk of recurrence or malignant transformation when compared to "typical" papillomas. At present, complete surgical excision and close follow-up seems to be the most reliable treatment. Adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy should be considered in cases of partial resection, recurrence or dissemination.
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Idiopathic subarachnoid haemorrhage (ISAH) represents approximately 15-30% of all subarachnoid haemorrhages. On the basis of the diagnostic CT and depending on the location of the subarachnoid bleeding, patients with ISAH may be classified into three groups: a) Patients with normal CT and diagnosis made by lumbar puncture (ISAHNCT); b) patients with a pure perimesencephalic pattern (ISAHPM) and c) patients with a bleeding pattern resembling that of aneurismatic rupture (ISAHA). This classification could permit the establishment of differences in the management and prognosis. ⋯ This study confirms that the frequency of ISAH in our environment reaches the higher limit of that shown previously in the literature, replicating the results previously published by our group. Patients with ISAH have a better prognosis and a smaller risk of complications than patients with ASAH, the prognosis of patients with ISAHCTN and ISAHPM being particularly good. Patients with ISAHA present initially with a severe clinical situation, probably related to the bigger amount of bleeding, as well as a higher frequency of systemic complications, cerebral ischemia and hydrocephalus. However, if the absence of vascular lesions is confirmed, the long term prognosis is similar to that of the other subgroups of ISAH.
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The management of severe head injuries in general and that of high intracranial pressure (ICP) in particular are among the most challenging tasks in neurocritical care. One of the difficulties still faced by clinicians is that of reducing variability among centers when implementing management protocols. The purpose of this paper is to propose a standardized protocol for the management of high ICP after severe head injury, consistent with recently published clinical practice guidelines and other clinical evidence such as that provided by the systematic reviews of the Cochrane Collaboration. ⋯ The main goal of this article is to provide neurotraumatology intensive care units with a unified protocol that can be easily modified as new evidence becomes available. This will reduce variation among centers when applying the same therapeutic measures. This goal will facilitate comparisons in outcomes among different centers and will also enable the implementation of more consistent clinical practice in centers involved in multicenter clinical trials.