World Neurosurg
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Case Reports
Superficial Temporal Artery to Middle Cerebral Artery Bypass for Moyamoya Disease: Surgical Nuances.
Moyamoya disease is a progressive pathology that generally presents with ischemic complications in the pediatric age group.1 Direct and indirect revascularization procedures have been shown to augment the cerebral blood flow and prevent disease progression. Some studies have reported better angiographic outcomes with direct revascularization, though its translation into clinical benefit is yet to be proven in prospective studies.1-4 In addition, direct revascularization is surgically challenging among the pediatric age group due to smaller vessel caliber. We present a case of a 10-year-old girl who presented with symptoms suggestive of transient cerebral ischemia (Video 1). ⋯ Anastomosis is then completed with interrupted stitches in the front wall. The patency of bypass is confirmed using indocyanine green angiography. In this article, we attempt to highlight our surgical technique of low-flow STA to M4-middle cerebral artery bypass with special emphasis on tips and tricks for young neurosurgeons to efficiently perform microvascular anastomosis.
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Modern neurosurgery has established maximal safe resection as a cornerstone in the management of diffuse gliomas. Evaluation of the extent of resection (EOR), and its association with certain outcomes or interventions, heavily depends on an adequate methodology to draw strong conclusions. We aim to identify weaknesses and limitations that may threaten the internal validity and generalizability of studies involving the EOR in patients with glioma and to suggest methodological recommendations that may help mitigate these threats. ⋯ There is a current need to focus more attention to the methodological aspects of glioma research. Methodological inconsistencies may introduce weaknesses into the internal validity of the studies and hamper comparative analysis of cohorts from different institutions. We hope our recommendations will eventually help develop stronger methodological designs in future research endeavors.
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Increasing patient age has been associated with worse outcomes after pituitary adenoma resection in previous studies, but the prognostic value of frailty compared with advancing age on pituitary adenoma resection outcomes has not been clearly evaluated. ⋯ Increasing frailty, and not advancing age, was an independent predictor for major complications, unplanned readmissions, eLOS, and nonhome discharge after pituitary adenoma resection, suggesting frailty to be superior to age in preoperative risk stratification in this patient population.
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Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a malignant brain tumor with a poor prognosis. Aerobic glycolysis and an immunosuppressive microenvironment are potentially correlated with progression of GBM. However, the prognostic value of glycolysis-immune-related genes has not been studied in GBM. ⋯ The glycolysis-immune-related risk score using CACNG2, CSMD3, GABRA3, KCNIP2, KSR2, PTPRT, TNFRSF12A, and TNR was able to predict the prognosis of GBM patients relatively reliably.
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In this study, we present data from a neurosurgical training program in Tanzania for the treatment of pediatric hydrocephalus. The objectives of the study were to identify the demographics and clinical characteristics of pediatric patients with hydrocephalus who were admitted to Bugando Medical Centre in Mwanza, Tanzania, as well as to describe their surgical treatment and early clinical outcomes. ⋯ We found that in our population, pediatric patients with hydrocephalus often present late for treatment with additional significant delays prior to receiving any surgical intervention. Five patients died, of whom 2 had not undergone surgery. Our study reinforces that targeted investments in clinical services are needed to enable access to care, improve surgical capacity, and alleviate the burden of neurosurgical disease from pediatric hydrocephalus in sub-Saharan Africa.