World Neurosurg
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Review Case Reports
Primary seeding of a myxopapillary ependymoma: Is it a different disease in an adult population? Case report and review of the literature.
Myxopapillary ependymoma (MPE) is a slow-growing tumor, occurring most often in adults. It originates from the filum terminale in the area of the conus medullaris and cauda equina and is considered a benign lesion. Despite this classification, however, recurrence after both partial and gross total resection is well known. ⋯ Complete craniospinal magnetic resonance imaging studies should be done before and after surgery in patients who present with a multifocal primary MPE. Furthermore, patients with a history of primary tumor seeding of MPE should be thoroughly evaluated radiologically. Unlike in pediatric populations, the need for postoperative irradiation in adults is less clear and further studies-particularly genetic ones-are warranted.
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Anterior cervical discectomy (ACD) is one of the most common spinal surgeries. Although rare, iatrogenic vertebral artery injuries (VAIs) are potentially life-threatening. Risk factors are anatomic, operative, and pathologic. We report a rare case of iatrogenic VAI during ACD and successful endovascular treatment with no long-term complications. We also review the literature on all VAIs associated with ACD and fusions. Risk factors and the safety and effectiveness of various management modalities are discussed. ⋯ Delayed pseudoaneurysm formation after iatrogenic VAI can occur. Endovascular embolization can be a safe treatment alternative to surgical repair.
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Patients with brain tumors are known to have deficits in cognitive, motor, and emotional domains. Comprehensive evaluation of the patient with brain tumor includes taking into account all these domains at baseline and throughout treatment. Standard neuropsychological assessment methods, however, are lengthy, expensive, and often are variable. The authors appraised the feasibility of using a brief, inexpensive, comprehensive, and standardized neuropsychological battery, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox, to assess these domains in patients with diffuse glioma. ⋯ The NIH Toolbox represents a feasible alternative to current neuropsychological batteries in the assessment of neurosurgical patients. It can be administered quickly, inexpensively, and will give the neurosurgical community a common currency when reporting neuropsychological results.
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Review Case Reports
Prognostic Differences: Epstein-Barr Virus Associated Primary Leiomyosarcoma of the Spine versus Spinal Leiomyosarcoma Metastases.
The authors studied 6 cases of osseous leiomyosarcoma of the spine. Two of these cases were of immunocompromised human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated primary vertebral leiomyosarcomas. The remaining 4 cases were of patients with leiomyosarcoma metastases to the spine. ⋯ These findings suggest that EBV-associated vertebral leiomyosarcoma is of a less aggressive variety than metastatic leiomyosarcoma of the spine.
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Multicenter Study Controlled Clinical Trial
Effects of Smoking on Subjective and Objective Measures of Pain Intensity, Functional Impairment and Health-related Quality of Life in Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease.
Numerous studies assessed the effects of smoking on lumbar degenerative disk disease (DDD); they focused on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and yielded conflicting results. ⋯ PROMs measuring SFI for pain intensity, functional impairment, and health-related quality of life were similar in smokers and nonsmokers before surgery for lumbar DDD, as well as postoperatively. The smoking status has negligible impact on the Timed Up and Go test, which appears to be a robust assessment tool for OFI.