Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Oct 2013
Attenuation of neurological injury with early baicalein treatment following subarachnoid hemorrhage in rats.
Baicalein has been shown to offer neuroprotection in the ischemic brain, but its effect in subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is unknown. The authors used a double-hemorrhage model to study the role of early baicalein treatment in SAH. ⋯ Early baicalein treatment attenuated CVS and limited neurological injury following SAH. These data may indicate clinical utility for baicalein as an adjunct therapy to reduce brain injury and improve patient outcomes.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Oct 2013
Opening of the blood-brain barrier with an unfocused ultrasound device in rabbits.
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a major impediment to the intracerebral diffusion of drugs used in the treatment of gliomas. Previous studies have demonstrated that pulsed focused ultrasound (US) in conjunction with a microbubble contrast agent can be used to open the BBB. To apply the US-induced opening of the BBB in clinical practice, the authors designed an innovative unfocused US device that can be implanted in the skull and used to transiently and repeatedly open the BBB during a standard chemotherapy protocol. The goal of this preliminary work was to study the opening of the BBB induced by the authors' small unfocused US transducer and to evaluate the effects of the sonications on brain parenchyma. ⋯ The results demonstrate that the BBB can be opened in large areas of the brain in rabbits with low-power, pulsed, and unfocused US with limited damage to healthy tissue.
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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
Effects of nandrolone on recovery after neurotization of chronically denervated muscle in a rat model.
Suboptimal recovery following repair of major peripheral nerves has been partially attributed to denervation atrophy. Administration of anabolic steroids in conjunction with neurotization may improve functional recovery of chronically denervated muscle. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the administration of nandrolone on muscle recovery following prolonged denervation in a rat model. ⋯ There does not seem to be a functional benefit from nandrolone treatment following reinnervation of either mild or moderately atrophic muscle (related to prolonged denervation) in a rodent model.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Oct 2013
Cerebrovascular complications and granuloma formation after wrapping or coating of intracranial aneurysms with cotton gauze and human fibrin adhesives: results from a single-center patient series over a 5-year period.
Reinforcement of intracranial aneurysms (IAs) by wrapping or coating is a well-established therapeutic approach to those IAs not amenable to any other definitive treatment, but has been associated with complications such as parent artery narrowing, granuloma formation, and ischemic stroke. The goal of this study was to systematically investigate cerebrovascular complications following this procedure. ⋯ These data should add to the awareness of significant cerebrovascular complications following wrapping or coating of IAs with cotton gauze and human fibrin adhesives and indicate that major ischemic strokes need to be included in the risk/benefit considerations during decision making for such treatment strategies. Patients who receive IA wrapping should be monitored and followed up closely for arterial narrowing and granuloma formation.