Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Sep 2011
Dose-dependent neurorestorative effects of delayed treatment of traumatic brain injury with recombinant human erythropoietin in rats.
Delayed (24 hours postinjury) treatment with erythropoietin (EPO) improves functional recovery following experimental traumatic brain injury (TBI). In this study, the authors tested whether therapeutic effects of delayed EPO treatment for TBI are dose dependent in an attempt to establish an optimal dose paradigm for the delayed EPO treatment. ⋯ These data demonstrate that delayed (24 hours postinjury) treatment with EPO provides dose-dependent neurorestoration, which may contribute to improved functional recovery after TBI, implying that application of an optimal dose of EPO is likely to increase successful preclinical and clinical trials for treatment of TBI.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Sep 2011
Effect of concentration on the accuracy of convective imaging distribution of a gadolinium-based surrogate tracer.
Accurate real-time imaging of coinfused surrogate tracers can be used to determine the convective distribution of therapeutic agents. To assess the effect that a concentration of a Gd-based surrogate tracer has on the accuracy of determining the convective distribution, the authors infused different concentrations of Gd-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) in primates during MR imaging. ⋯ The concentration of infused Gd-DTPA plays a critical role in accurately assessing the distribution of molecules delivered by CED. A 5-mM concentration of Gd-DTPA most accurately estimated the Vd over a wide range of molecular sizes.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Sep 2011
Immune cell infiltrate differences in pilocytic astrocytoma and glioblastoma: evidence of distinct immunological microenvironments that reflect tumor biology.
The tumor microenvironment in astrocytomas is composed of a variety of cell types, including infiltrative inflammatory cells that are dynamic in nature, potentially reflecting tumor biology. In this paper the authors demonstrate that characterization of the intratumoral inflammatory infiltrate can distinguish high-grade glioblastoma from low-grade pilocytic astrocytoma. ⋯ This analysis suggests a significantly distinct immune profile in the microenvironment of high-grade glioblastoma versus low-grade pilocytic astrocytoma. This difference in tumor microenvironment may reflect an important difference in the tumor biology of glioblastoma.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Sep 2011
Posterior fossa volume increase after surgery for Chiari malformation Type I: a quantitative assessment using magnetic resonance imaging and correlations with the treatment response.
The aim of this paper was to measure the posterior fossa (PF) volume increase resulting from a given-sized occipital craniectomy in Chiari malformation Type I surgery and to analyze its correlations with the PF size and the treatment response, with the perspective of tailoring the amount of bone removal to the patient-specific PF dimensions. ⋯ The treatment response is significantly influenced by the degree of PFV increase, which is dependent on the size of the PF and the extent of the craniectomy, suggesting that the optimal patient-specific PFV increase could be predicted on the basis of preoperative MR imaging and enhancing the perspective that the craniectomy size could be tailored to the individual PFV.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Sep 2011
Minimally invasive evacuation of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage using sonothrombolysis.
Catheter-based evacuation is a novel surgical approach for the treatment of brain hemorrhage. The object of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ultrasound in combination with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) delivered through a microcatheter directly into spontaneous intraventricular (IVH) or intracerebral (ICH) hemorrhage in humans. ⋯ Lysis and drainage of spontaneous ICH and IVH with a reduction in mass effect can be accomplished rapidly and safely through sonothrombolysis using stereotactically delivered drainage and ultrasound catheters via a bur hole. A larger clinical trial with catheters specifically designed for brain blood clot removal is warranted.