World Neurosurg
-
Although the spontaneous regression of pseudotumors after posterior fusion has been reported, the predictive factors remain unclear. We examined the radiological features that predict for the regression of retro-odontoid pseudotumors after posterior fusion, with a specific focus on cyst formation. ⋯ The presence of cystic lesions protruding from retro-odontoid pseudotumors might serve as a predictive factor for the spontaneous regression of pseudotumors after posterior fusion.
-
Accurate screw placement remains challenging, especially in the cervical spine. We present our first experience of minimally invasive posterior cervical and upper thoracic pedicle screw fixation in the lower cervical spine. ⋯ Posterior miniopen fixation using Cirq robotic assistance coupled with an intraoperative computed tomography navigation system is a major innovation that can improve the accuracy of pedicle screw positioning, with acceptable patient radiation and reduced surgical team exposure.
-
We describe our single-institutional experience with magnetic resonance-guided stereotactic laser ablation (SLA) for the treatment of newly diagnosed and recurrent pediatric brain tumors. ⋯ SLA is a minimally invasive modality for the treatment of newly diagnosed and recurrent low-grade pediatric brain tumors. Low-grade glioma exhibited the best responses. Identification of ideal candidates for SLA, mitigation of perioperative complications, and demonstration of long-term outcomes need to be better defined in a clinical trial setting.
-
Computer vision (CV) is a subset of artificial intelligence that performs computations on image or video data, permitting the quantitative analysis of visual information. Common CV tasks that may be relevant to surgeons include image classification, object detection and tracking, and extraction of higher order features. Despite the potential applications of CV to intraoperative video, however, few surgeons describe the use of CV. A primary roadblock in implementing CV is the lack of a clear workflow to create an intraoperative video dataset to which CV can be applied. We report general principles for creating usable surgical video datasets and the result of their applications. ⋯ CV techniques can be applied to surgical video, but challenges for novice users may limit adoption. We outline principles in annotation workflow that can mitigate initial challenges groups may have when converting raw video into useable, annotated datasets.
-
Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) syndrome is a rare disease that occurs in an autosomal-dominant genetic pattern. Due to the high genetic variability of VHL diseases, current studies have limited clinical value. Moreover, casual genetic variations in patients with VHL syndrome are still unclear. ⋯ These results demonstrated that the heterogeneous nature of VHL syndrome and novel mutational signatures may help to improve the diagnostic ability of VHL syndrome.