Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 2011
Petroclival meningiomas: study on outcomes, complications and recurrence rates.
Petroclival meningiomas are notoriously difficult lesions to manage surgically, given the critical neurovascular structures that are intimately associated with the tumors. In this paper, the authors' aim was to review their series of patients with petroclival meningiomas who underwent surgical treatment; emphasis was placed on evaluating modes of presentation, postoperative neurological outcome, complications, and recurrence rates. ⋯ Petroclival meningiomas still pose a formidable challenge to neurosurgeons. In their series, the authors used multiple skull base approaches and careful microneurosurgical technique to achieve a good functional outcome (Glasgow Outcome Scale Score 4 or 5) in 92% of patients, although the extent of gross-total resection was only 28%. The authors' primary surgical goal was to achieve maximal tumor resection while maintaining or improving neurological function. The authors favor the treatment of residual tumor or recurrent tumor with stereotactic radiosurgery.
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 2011
Biography Historical ArticleBerengario da Carpi: a pioneer in neurotraumatology.
Berengario da Carpi was one of the most famous physicians of the 16th century, a recognized master of anatomy and surgery, an emblematic "Renaissance man" who combined his medical experience and engineering knowledge to design new surgical instruments, and effectively used the arts of writing and drawing to describe state-of-the-art medicine and provide illustrations of anatomical structures. His greatest contribution to medicine was to write the most important work on craniocerebral surgery of the 16th century, the Tractatus de Fractura Calvae sive Cranei (Treatise on Fractures of the Calvaria or Cranium), in which he described an entire set of surgical instruments to be used for cranial operations to treat head traumas that became a reference for later generations of physicians. This was a systematic treatise covering the mechanisms, classification, and medical and surgical treatment of head traumas, and can be considered a milestone in the history of neurotraumatology.
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 2011
Clinicopathological factors related to regrowth of vestibular schwannoma after incomplete resection.
The authors retrospectively analyzed various clinicopathological factors to determine which are related to regrowth during a long-term follow-up period in patients who underwent incomplete vestibular schwannoma (VS) resection. ⋯ Greater residual tumor thickness, based on MR imaging after the initial surgery, and a higher MIB-1 index are both important factors related to postoperative tumor regrowth in patients who have undergone incomplete VS resection. These patients require frequent neuroimaging investigation during follow-up to assure early detection of tumor regrowth.
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 2011
Portable head CT scan and its effect on intracranial pressure, cerebral perfusion pressure, and brain oxygen.
Follow-up head CT scans are important in neurocritical care but involve intrahospital transport that may be associated with potential hazards including a deleterious effect on brain tissue oxygen pressure (PbtO(2)). Portable head CT (pHCT) scans offer an alternative imaging technique without a need for patient transport. In this study, the investigators examined the effects of pHCT scans on intracranial pressure (ICP), cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), and PbtO(2) in patients with severe brain injury. ⋯ These data suggest that pHCT scans do not have a detectable effect on a critically ill patient's ICP, CPP, or PbtO(2).
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 2011
Gamma Knife surgery of meningiomas located in the posterior fossa: factors predictive of outcome and remission.
Although numerous studies have analyzed the role of stereotactic radiosurgery for intracranial meningiomas, few studies have assessed outcomes of posterior fossa meningiomas after stereotactic radiosurgery. In this study, the authors evaluate the outcomes of posterior fossa meningiomas treated with Gamma Knife surgery (GKS). The authors also assess factors predictive of new postoperative neurological deficits and tumor progression. ⋯ Gamma Knife surgery offers an acceptable rate of tumor control for posterior fossa meningiomas and accomplishes this with a low incidence of neurological deficits. In patients selected for GKS, tumor progression is associated with age greater than 65 years and decreasing dose to the tumor margin. Clival- or petrous-based locations are predictive of an increased risk of new or worsening neurological deficit following GKS.