World Neurosurg
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Validity of prognostic grading indices for brain metastasis patients undergoing repeat radiosurgery.
We tested the validity of 5 prognostic indices, Recursive Partitioning Analysis (RPA), Score Index for Radiosurgery (SIR), Basic Score for Brain Metastases (BSBM), Graded Prognostic Assessment (GPA), and Modified-RPA, for patients who underwent repeat stereotactic radiosurgery (re-SRS). ⋯ Among the 5 systems, based on patient number proportions, MST separation among the 3/4 groups, and/or detailed reflection of status changes, the Modified-RPA system was shown to be most applicable to re-SRS patients.
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Historical Article
A journey into the technical evolution of neuroendoscopy.
Neuroendoscopy has become a well-accepted technique in neurosurgery. After the introduction of the endoscope in medical practice by Phillip Bozzini in 1806, influential individuals such as Harold Hopkins and Karl Storz paved the way for its current success. ⋯ The importance of each development for the purpose of the instrument is explained. Gaps in the literature regarding the technical aspects of neuroendoscopy, including the optical physics in the endoscope, three-dimensional endoscopy, and clinical applications of neuroendoscopy and robotics, are addressed.
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We sought to compare outcomes between patients undergoing decompression only versus decompression and instrumented fusion for primary spinal infections. ⋯ Patients who received just decompression for spinal infection had similar reoperation and continued infection rates as patients who additionally underwent instrumentation, irrespective of infection location within the spine. These findings suggest that instrumentation of the infected spine may be a safe treatment modality and should be considered when the spinal integrity is compromised.
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With subspecialty surgical care often unavailable to poor patients in developing countries, short-term brigades have filled a portion of the gap. We prospectively assessed the cost effectiveness of a pediatric neurosurgical brigade to Guatemala City, Guatemala. ⋯ To our knowledge, this is the first study evaluating cost effectiveness of a short-term neurosurgical brigade. Although surgical intervention is acknowledged as playing a crucial role in global health, subspecialty surgical care is still broadly perceived as a luxury. Although providing care through local surgeons is undeniably more efficient than bringing in foreign medical teams, such care is not universally available. This study argues that volunteer neurosurgical teams can provide high complexity care with a competitive cost-effective profile.
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The best management of patients with brain arteriovenous malformations (BAVM) is controversial. The radiosurgery-based arteriovenous malformation (AVM) score (RBAS) was developed to predict outcomes for patients with BAVM having stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). ⋯ SRS provided a high rate of obliteration at very low risk for patients with BVAM with a RBAS ≤1. Patient outcomes after SRS are likely equivalent to resection for younger patients with small-volume BAVM who do not require a craniotomy for clot removal.