World Neurosurg
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Rosai-Dorfman disease is a rare benign histiocytic proliferative disorder with a self-limiting clinical course. Skull base Rosai-Dorfman disease presents with intracranial lesions that often mimic meningiomas and other benign skull base tumors. The disease is difficult to diagnose radiographically, and tissue diagnosis exposes patients to significant perioperative risk. Surgical resection may require a large skull base exposure that risks significant surgical morbidity. Aggressive surgical resection, although often attempted, is of unproven efficacy. Our objective was to determine the optimal surgical management of skull base Rosai-Dorfman disease. ⋯ Tumors commonly occur in the sellar/parasellar region and result in loss of vision. Regardless of extent of resection, the majority of patients (>78%) have subsequent tumor regression or stable disease. Steroids and/or radiation are effective treatments for tumor recurrence. Tumor biopsy followed by observation, steroids, and/or radiation may be the most appropriate surgical management of skull base Rosai-Dorfman disease.
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Accurate frameless neuronavigation is highly important in cranial neurosurgery. The accuracy demonstrated in phantom models might not be representative for results in patients. Few studies describe the in vivo quantitative accuracy of neuronavigation in patients. The use of a frameless stereotactic drilling technique for stereoelectroencephalography depth electrode implantation in epilepsy patients, as well as diagnostic biopsies, provides a unique opportunity to assess the accuracy with postoperative imaging of preoperatively planned trajectories. ⋯ In this study, we showed that the in vivo accuracy of our frameless stereotactic drilling technique, suitable for stereoelectroencephalography depth electrode placement and diagnostic brain biopsies, was 3.5 mm.
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We present a new case of angioleiomyoma, with detailed preoperative magnetic resonance imaging and digital subtraction angiography studies. A 36-year-old man was referred to our hospital for headache and diplopia. ⋯ The residual tumor was treated with CyberKnife, which, to our knowledge, is the first use of CyberKnife treatment for intracranial angioleiomyoma. At 20 months postoperatively, the size of the residual tumor had been reduced.
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Catheter shearing is one of the most common complications of various neurosurgical modalities that use an intrathecal lumbar catheter. The sheared catheter fragment often can spontaneously migrate into the spinal canal; however, in some cases, the end of the fragment will remain outside the spinal canal. In this situation, the consulting neurosurgeons may try to retrieve the catheter fragment by approaching it directly through the catheter tract. This simple maneuver, however, can cause the fragment to slip into the spinal canal before it is secured, as we experienced recently in 2 cases. Because the fragment of the sheared catheter slipped while manipulating it within the catheter tract, we suggest that surgeons not approach the fragment along the tract to prevent it from migrating downward. ⋯ We propose that surgeons approach the fragment from outside of the catheter tract. One should keep in mind a simple phrase, 'Do not follow the tail', when retrieving the sheared lumbar catheter fragment.