Journal of neurosurgery
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Parasagittal and parafalcine (PSPF) meningiomas represent the second most common location for intracranial meningiomas. Involvement of the superior sagittal sinus or deep draining veins may prevent gross-total resection of these tumors without significant morbidity. The authors review their results for treatment of PSPF meningiomas with radiosurgery. ⋯ Radiosurgery offers a minimally invasive treatment option for PSPF meningiomas, with a good tumor control rate and an acceptable complication rate comparable to most surgical series.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Oct 2013
Boron neutron capture therapy for recurrent high-grade meningiomas.
Similar to glioblastomas, high-grade meningiomas are difficult pathologies to control. In this study, the authors used boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), a tumor-selective intensive particle radiation modality, to treat high-grade meningioma. ⋯ Boron neutron capture therapy may be especially effective in cases of high-grade meningioma.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Oct 2013
A practical grading scale for predicting outcome after radiosurgery for arteriovenous malformations: analysis of 1012 treated patients.
The authors performed a study to review outcomes following Gamma Knife radiosurgery for cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) and to create a practical scale to predict long-term outcome. ⋯ Gamma Knife radiosurgery can be used to achieve long-term AVM obliteration and neurological preservation in a predictable fashion based on patient and AVM characteristics.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Oct 2013
Acoustic neuroma observation associated with an increase in symptomatic tinnitus: results of the 2007-2008 Acoustic Neuroma Association survey.
Tinnitus is a known presenting symptom of acoustic neuromas, but little is known about the impact of observation or treatment on tinnitus. Most patients experience improvement with treatment, while others may worsen. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the overall impact of observation and treatment on tinnitus outcome in patients with acoustic tumors. ⋯ Presenting tinnitus severity correlates strongly with tumor size. Furthermore, regardless of treatment, there appears to be an overall reduction in tinnitus severity for all forms of microsurgery and stereotactic radiosurgery. Importantly, observation leads to a worsening in symptomatic tinnitus and therefore should be weighed in the treatment recommendation.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Oct 2013
Prevalence of patient safety indicators and hospital-acquired conditions in those treated for unruptured cerebral aneurysms: establishing standard performance measures using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) patient safety indicators (PSIs) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) are metrics used to gauge the quality of health care provided by health care institutions. The PSIs and HACs are publicly reported metrics and are directly linked to reimbursement for services. To better understand the prevalence of these adverse events in hospitalized patients treated for unruptured cerebral aneurysms, the authors determined the incidence rates of PSIs and HACs among patients with a diagnosis of unruptured aneurysm in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database. ⋯ These results estimate baseline national rates of PSIs and HACs in patients with unruptured cerebral aneurysms. These data may be used to gauge individual institutional quality of care and patient safety metrics in comparison with national data.