Acta neurochirurgica
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Acta neurochirurgica · Apr 2015
Paediatric cranial defect reconstruction using bioactive fibre-reinforced composite implant: early outcomes.
In children, approximately half of cryopreserved allograft bone flaps fail due to infection and resorption. Synthetic materials offer a solution for allograft bone flap resorption. Fibre-reinforced composite with a bioactive glass particulate filling is a new synthetic material for bone reconstruction. Bioactive glass is capable of chemically bonding with bone and is osteoinductive, osteoconductive and bacteriostatic. Fibre-reinforced composite allows for fabricating thin (0.8 mm) margins for implant, which are designed as onlays on the existing bone. Bioactive glass is dissolved over time, whereas the fibre-reinforced composite serves as a biostable part of the implant, and these have been tested in preclinical and adult clinical trials. In this study, we tested the safety and other required properties of this composite material in large skull bone reconstruction with children. ⋯ Here, we found that early cranioplasty outcomes with the fibre-reinforced composite implant were promising. However, a longer follow-up time and a larger group of patients are needed to draw firmer conclusions regarding the long-term benefits of the proposed novel biomaterial and implant design. The glass-fibre-reinforced composite implant incorporated by particles of bioactive glass may offer an original, non-metallic and bioactive alternative for reconstruction of large skull bone defects in a paediatric population.
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The "telo-velar" approach is an alternative to cerebellar splitting to gain access to the fourth ventricle through the so-called cerebello-medullary fissure (CMF). ⋯ • Early exposure of the interface lesion-floor of the fourth ventricle favours a safer tumour dissection. • We feel that resection of tonsils is not necessary in the surgical setting. • The posterior arch of C1 should be removed only if the tonsils are below the level of the foramen magnum. • The improved access to the lateral recess of the ventricle makes the telo-velar approach particularly effective in lesions attached to cerebellar peduncles. • The wide dissection of the cerebello-medullary fissure and gentle tonsils retraction may prevent from the occurrence of cerebellar mutism or other major cerebellar dysfunctions. • Even the bilateral opening of the CMF does not result in cerebellar mutism if wide and cautious dissection, avoiding retraction and vascular injuries, is obtained. • The exposure of the fourth ventricle was satisfactory also in patients harbouring lesions attached to the lateral or even the superolateral recesses of the ventricle. • A deep rostral tumour attachment seems to be, at least in our experience, the main specific limitation of the telo-velar approach. • The risk of hydrocephalus can be reduced by opening of the fissure bilaterally, exposing the aqueduct, and by cisterna magna-fourth ventricle communication augmentation. • The EVD is taken in place for 48-72 h to prevent possible abrupt increase of the intracranial pressure and to favour wound closure.
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Acta neurochirurgica · Apr 2015
Case ReportsSubcortical language and non-language mapping in awake brain surgery: the use of multimodal tests.
Awake craniotomy is currently considered the gold standard to maximise the extent of resection and to minimise postoperative deficits in patients with supratentorial tumours near eloquent areas. In addition to direct electrical stimulation (DES) of the cortex, intraoperative subcortical mapping is increasingly used as it optimises the benefit-to-risk ratio by decreasing (permanent) postoperative neurological deficits. However, only little attention has been paid to subcortical mapping procedures and especially the tasks to be used. ⋯ Administration of multimodal tests during subcortical DES such as the experimental QMT may facilitate identification of eloquent pathways leading to avoidance of permanent neurological impairments.
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Acta neurochirurgica · Apr 2015
Results of nerve reconstructions in treatment of obstetrical brachial plexus injuries.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the results achieved using various surgical techniques in patients with partial and total obstetrical brachial plexus palsy. ⋯ Improved function can be obtained in infants with obstetrical brachial plexus injury with early surgical reconstruction.
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Acta neurochirurgica · Apr 2015
Guiding protractor for accurate freehand placement of ventricular catheter in ventriculoperitoneal shunting.
While frameless stereotaxis can be used for shunt ventricular catheter placement in patients with smaller ventricles, the ventricular catheter is still commonly placed based on the surface anatomy of the head for patients with larger ventricles. Thus, surgical techniques and guides facilitating accurate and reliable freehand placement of the ventricular catheter still need to be devised. ⋯ The proposed surgical technique using a guiding protractor facilitates accurate freehand placement of a ventricular catheter for patients with a bicaudate index >0.2 or bifrontal distance >25 mm.