World Neurosurg
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Spinal cord herniation in the cervical spine is an exceptionally rare occurrence. It is most often cited in association with surgery and almost exclusively with a posterior approach. Herniation with an anterior approach has been reported in 3 cases after multilevel corpectomy, all of which involved herniation through a dural defect sustained during surgery. ⋯ We present a case of cervical cord herniation that occurred into the ventral corpectomy site without obvious dural defect. We hypothesize that cerebral spinal pulsations over time degraded the corpectomy site and ultimately promoted herniation of the spinal cord. Here, we discuss the successful surgical management of this unique pathology and discuss a relevant review of the literature.
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Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) can be used to achieve local control of metastatic brain lesions. However, the temporal response of these lesions to SRS is incompletely understood and quantified. We aimed to examine the temporal response to SRS of single brain metastases from 4 different primary cancers. ⋯ The results of this study demonstrate a consistent reduction in tumor volume following SRS over a 6-month period. Responses were modest over the first 30 days but accelerated at 3 months and varied by tumor type.
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To study the natural growth dynamics of skull base chordomas. ⋯ The skull base chordoma is a slow-growing tumor. The cases involving characteristics of female gender, endophytic type, small tumor size, and MR grade 3 showed a higher growth rate.
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A potential application of near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging using second-window indocyanine green (SWIG) is demonstrated. We hypothesized that because the pituitary lacks a blood-brain barrier, we might visualize the pituitary stalk using SWIG. A 52-year-old, right-handed man presented to our clinic for evaluation of progressive loss of vision. ⋯ Postoperatively, the patient had persistently high urine output that normalized in 24 hours without desmopressin (sodium 139-140 mmol/L); after uneventful recovery, he was discharged with mild improvement in visual function. This case demonstrated a potential use of our SWIG protocol. As the stalk demonstrates strong NIR fluorescence after high-dose indocyanine green administration, surgeons may be able to better localize and preserve the stalk even in complex skull base tumor cases where the anatomy may be significantly distorted.
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Observational Study
Risk factors for negative global treatment outcomes in lumbar spinal stenosis surgery: a mixed effects model analysis of data from an international spine registry.
To determine risk factors for negative global treatment outcomes as self-assessed by patients undergoing surgical treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). ⋯ LSS surgery fails to help at least 1 in 10 patients. High baseline back pain is the most important factor associated with a negative treatment outcome. Department-level and potentially country-level factors of unknown origin explained a nonnegligible variation in the treatment results.