World Neurosurg
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Review Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Skip Laminectomy Compared with Laminoplasty for Cervical Compressive Myelopathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
This meta-analysis evaluated the clinical outcomes of skip laminectomy relative to laminoplasty for the treatment of cervical compressive myelopathy. ⋯ This meta-analysis determined that skip laminectomy was superior to laminoplasty in terms of visual analogue scale score and rates of axial pain and muscle atrophy. These results warrant further confirmation in future research.
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Meta Analysis
Prognostic Factors and Survival of Gliomatosis Cerebri: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Gliomatosis cerebri (GC) is a fatal diffusely infiltrating glioma. Because of its rarity, only scarce evidence is available regarding outcome predictors and the proper management of GC. ⋯ In the largest study to date on GC, we have identified clinical, imaging, and molecular outcome predictors that are similar to other gliomas and highlight the beneficial effect of chemotherapy and surgical resection, when feasible, on outcomes.
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The emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogens has resulted in difficult-to-treat ventriculitis/meningitis (VM). We used a meta-analysis to study the role of intraventricular (IVT) antibiotic administration as an adjunct (IVT plus intravenous [IV]) to the classic intravenous antimicrobial therapy (IV-only) in the management of VM in terms of infection control, functional outcome, microbial eradication, complications, cost-benefit analysis, infectious mortality, and overall mortality. ⋯ Combined IVT plus IV treatment did not prove superior to standard IV-only treatment in the management of VM. Nevertheless, weak evidence showed that IVT treatment might serve as an adjunct in the management of carbapenem-resistant pathogens.
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Malignant infarction of the middle cerebral artery (MCI) is life threatening. It is associated with a mortality as high as 80%, and survival often at the expense of serious disability. Limited success of medical therapies has resulted in decompressive craniectomy (DC) being increasingly used as a treatment for MCI, although evidence of its efficacy is inconclusive. In this study, the efficacy of DC in improving survival, or survival free of severe disability, was assessed. ⋯ Early DC reduces mortality but does not appear to improve favourable outcomes in patients younger or older than 60 years after MCI. RCTs incorporating quality of life assessments are warranted for MCI patients, in addition to defining the optimal timing and benefits of DC in older patients.
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This study provides a systematic review and meta-analysis of psychiatric disorders caused by craniopharyngiomas and the hypothalamic alterations underlying these symptoms. ⋯ Craniopharyngiomas primarily involving the hypothalamus represent a neurobiological model of psychiatric and behavioral disorders.