Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Feb 2014
Case ReportsBypass surgery for complex middle cerebral artery aneurysms: impact of the exact location in the MCA tree.
The object of this study was to describe the authors' institutional experience in the treatment of complex middle cerebral artery (MCA) aneurysms necessitating bypass and vessel sacrifice. ⋯ Bypass in combination with parent vessel occlusion is a useful technique with acceptable frequencies of morbidity and mortality for complex MCA aneurysms when conventional surgical or endovascular techniques are not feasible. The location of the aneurysm should be considered when planning the type of bypass and the site of vessel occlusion. Flow alteration by partial trapping may be preferable to total trapping for the M1 aneurysms.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Feb 2014
Case ReportsGeneration of a patient-derived chordoma xenograft and characterization of the phosphoproteome in a recurrent chordoma.
The management of patients with locally recurrent or metastatic chordoma is a challenge. Preclinical disease models would greatly accelerate the development of novel therapeutic options for chordoma. The authors sought to establish and characterize a primary xenograft model for chordoma that faithfully recapitulates the molecular features of human chordoma. ⋯ The authors report the establishment of SF8894, a recurrent clival chordoma xenograft that mimics many of the features of the original tumor and that should be a useful preclinical model for recurrent chordoma.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Feb 2014
The lion's mane sign: surgical results using the bilateral fronto-orbito-nasal approach in large and giant anterior skull base meningiomas.
Concerns about extreme peritumoral edema and its ensuing surgical and perioperative complications led the authors to use the bilateral fronto-orbito-nasal approach to remove midline anterior skull base meningiomas that were larger than 4 cm. The authors hypothesize that extreme vasogenic edema exemplified by finger-like hyperintensities extending into the bifrontal white matter and external capsule and/or the extreme capsule, coined the lion's mane sign (LMS), would help identify patients with a challenging postoperative course. They hypothesize that the LMS would better predict symptomatic postoperative cerebral edema than the edema index (EI). ⋯ The LMS predicts an increased duration of stay in the ICU after a bilateral fronto-orbito-nasal approach for resection of large and giant anterior skull base meningiomas. Furthermore, the LMS better predicted increased length of stay in the ICU than did the EI.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Feb 2014
Determinants of quality of life in patients with skull base chordoma.
Skull base chordomas can be managed by surgical intervention and adjuvant radiotherapy. As survival for this disease increases, identification of determinants of quality of life becomes an important focus for guiding comprehensive patient care. In this study the authors sought to measure functional outcome and quality of life in patients with skull base chordomas and to identify determinants of quality of life in these patients. ⋯ Patients with skull base chordomas have a lower quality of life than the general US population. The most significant determinants of quality of life in the posttreatment phase in this patient population were neurological deficits (sensory deficit and bowel/bladder dysfunction), pain medication use, corticosteroid use, and levels of depression as scored by PHQ-9.