World Neurosurg
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Tuberculosis is a common disease; however, the prevalence of calvarial tuberculosis is very rare. Most cases of calvarial tuberculosis occur in young patients. We report a rare case of calvarial tuberculosis in an elderly patient. ⋯ A careful assessment should be performed to obtain an appropriate diagnosis in cases of osteolytic lesions of the skull.
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Meta Analysis
The impact of urgent (<8 h) decompression on neurologic recovery in traumatic spinal cord injury: a meta-analysis.
The relationship between urgent decompression and neurologic recovery for traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) remains controversial. This meta-analysis was conducted to determine the beneficial effects of surgery within 8 hours for patients with TSCI. ⋯ This meta-analysis provides evidence of benefits from urgent (<8 hours) decompression for patients with TSCI in terms of neurologic recovery. The improvement effect is more definite in patients with initial complete TSCI.
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As of May 4, 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected >3.5 million people and touched every inhabited continent. Accordingly, it has stressed health systems worldwide, leading to the cancellation of elective surgical cases and discussions regarding health care resource rationing. It is expected that rationing of surgical resources will continue even after the pandemic peak and may recur with future pandemics, creating a need for a means of triaging patients for emergent and elective spine surgery. ⋯ We present the first quantitative urgency scoring system for the triage and prioritizing of spine surgery cases in resource-limited settings. We believe that our scoring system, although not all encompassing, has potential value as a guide for triaging spine surgical cases during the COVID pandemic and post-COVID period.
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Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage after penetrating skull base injury is relatively rare compared with close head injuries involving skull base fractures. ⋯ Endonasal endoscopic caulking of a skull base defect using an FFG plug can be useful to treat CSF leakage due to the localized skull base defect, especially in the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. It is simple, inexpensive, and timesaving. It requires no special skills nor sophisticated instruments that can cause aerosolization, reducing the risk of infection during the surgery.
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Review Case Reports
Sellar-Suprasellar Paraganglioma: Report of 2 Cases and Review of Literature.
Intracranial paragangliomas are infrequent and those occurring in the sellar-suprasellar region are rare, with only 31 cases described in literature. ⋯ We report 2 cases of paraganglioma occurring in a rare location. Presence of flow voids within tumors in the sellar-suprasellar location should alert the surgeon to this entity. The hypervascular nature of these tumors may limit the extent of resection. In cases of inadequate tumor decompression, or if there is evidence of growth of residual tumor, radiotherapy can help to stabilize the disease.