Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 2017
Comparative StudyEndoscopic versus microscopic microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia: equivalent pain outcomes with possibly decreased postoperative headache after endoscopic surgery.
OBJECTIVE Endoscopic surgery has revolutionized surgery of the ventral skull base but has not yet been widely adopted for use in the cerebellopontine angle. Given the relatively normal anatomy of the cerebellopontine angle in patients with trigeminal neuralgia (TN), the authors hypothesized that a fully endoscopic microvascular decompression (E-MVD) might provide pain outcomes equivalent to those of microscopic MVD (M-MVD) but with fewer complications. METHODS The authors conducted a single-institution, single-surgeon retrospective study with patients treated in the period of 2006-2013. ⋯ Actuarial freedom from pain recurrence was equivalent in the 2 groups, with 80% pain control at 3 years. CONCLUSIONS Both the fully endoscopic MVD and the conventional M-MVD appear to provide patients with equivalent pain outcomes. Complication rates were also similar between the groups, with the exception of the rate of headaches, which was significantly lower in the E-MVD group 1 month postoperatively.
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 2017
Effect of short-term ε-aminocaproic acid treatment on patients undergoing endovascular coil embolization following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.
OBJECTIVE Aneurysmal rebleeding before definitive obliteration of the aneurysm is a cause of mortality and morbidity. There are limited data on the role of short-term antifibrinolytic therapy among patients undergoing endovascular intervention. METHODS All consecutive patients receiving endovascular therapy for their ruptured saccular aneurysm at the authors' institution between 2000 and 2011 were included in this study. ⋯ CONCLUSIONS In this study, short-term EACA treatment in patients who suffered from aSAH and received endovascular aneurysm repair did not decrease the risk of preinterventional rebleeding or increase the risk of thrombotic events. EACA did not affect outcome. Randomized clinical trials are required to provide robust clinical recommendation on short-term use of EACA.
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 2017
Case ReportsPrimary pituitary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with somatotroph hyperplasia and acromegaly: case report.
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and comprises approximately 30% of all lymphomas. Patients typically present with a nonpainful mass in the neck, groin, or abdomen associated with constitutional symptoms. In this report, however, the authors describe a rare case of a 61-year-old woman with hyperprolactinemia, hypothyroidism, and acromegaly (elevation of insulin-like growth factor-1 [IGF-1]) with elevated growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) in whom an MRI demonstrated diffuse enlargement of the pituitary gland. ⋯ She underwent a transsphenoidal biopsy, which yielded a diagnosis of DLBCL with an activated B-cell immunophenotype with somatotroph hyperplasia. After stereo-tactic radiation therapy in combination with chemotherapy, she is currently in remission from her lymphoma and has normalized IGF-1 levels without medical therapy, 8 months after her histopathological diagnosis. This is the only reported case of its kind and displays the importance of a broad differential diagnosis, multidisciplinary evaluation, and critical intraoperative decision-making when treating atypical sellar lesions.
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 2017
CommentExternal validation of the Practical Risk Chart for the prediction of delayed cerebral ischemia following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.
OBJECTIVE Delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) occurs in approximately 30% of patients. The Practical Risk Chart was developed to predict DCI based on admission characteristics; the authors seek to externally validate and critically appraise this prediction tool. METHODS A prospective cohort of aSAH patients was used to externally validate the previously published Practical Risk Chart. ⋯ The best-fit model used a combination of the Hunt and Hess grade and the modified Fisher scale to yield an AUC of 0.76 (95% CI 0.675-0.85) and 0.70 (95% CI 0.602-0.8) for the prediction of DCI and clinical vasospasm, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The Practical Risk Chart adequately predicts the risk of DCI following aSAH. However, the best-fit model represents a simpler stratification scheme, using only the Hunt and Hess grade and the modified Fisher scale, and produces a comparable AUC.
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 2017
Impact of subclinical coronary artery disease on the clinical outcomes of carotid endarterectomy.
OBJECTIVE Controversy persists regarding the optimal management of subclinical coronary artery disease (CAD) prior to carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and the impact of CAD on clinical outcomes after CEA. This study aimed to evaluate the short-term surgical risks and long-term outcomes of patients with subclinical CAD who underwent CEA. METHODS The authors performed a retrospective study of data from a prospective CEA registry. ⋯ These patients did have a higher incidence of perioperative cardiac damage (13.6% vs 0.5%, p < 0.01), but they had similar primary endpoint incidences during the perioperative period (2.5% vs.1.8%, p = 0.65) and similar estimated 4-year primary endpoint rates (13.6% vs 12.4%, p = 0.76) as the patients without subclinical CAD. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the 2 groups had similar rates of overall survival (p = 0.75). CONCLUSIONS Patients with subclinical CAD can undergo CEA with acceptable short- and long-term outcomes provided they receive selective coronary revascularization and optimal perioperative medical treatment.