Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Mar 2018
Case ReportsIntradiploic encephalocele of the primary motor cortex in an adult patient: electrophysiological implications during surgery.
Encephaloceles are herniations of brain parenchyma through congenital or acquired osseous-dural defects of the skull base or cranial vault. Different types of symptoms, due to CSF fistulas, meningitis, or seizures, are often associated with this condition. The authors present a rare case of spontaneous right frontal parasagittal encephalocele in a 70-year-old man who was experiencing a spastic progressive paresis of his left lower limb. ⋯ Thus, the brain parenchyma was carefully released without resection to preserve motor function and, finally, a cranioplasty was performed. After a few months, the patient demonstrated considerable improvement in his left lower-limb function and, after 1 year, he had fully recovered. Intraoperative electrophysiological monitoring and mapping allowed for the determination of the best surgical strategy for the isolation of the encephalocele and correlated well with preoperative multimodal MRI.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Mar 2018
Coexistence of obstructive sleep apnea worsens the overall outcome of intracranial aneurysm: a pioneer study.
OBJECTIVE Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with the progression of abdominal and thoracic aortic aneurysms. However, the role of OSA in the overall outcome of intracranial aneurysms (IAs) has not yet been established. Authors of this report investigated the role of OSA in the overall outcome of IAs. ⋯ Overall outcome (mRS) of IAs is also affected by the co-occurrence of OSA. Therefore, the coexistence of OSA with IA affects the outcome of IAs. Obstructive sleep apnea is a risk factor for a poor outcome in IA patients.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Mar 2018
Prognostic implications of the subcellular localization of survivin in glioblastomas treated with radiotherapy plus concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide.
OBJECTIVE Currently, the standard treatment protocol for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM) includes surgery, radiotherapy, and concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ). Various prognostic biomarkers for GBM have been described, including survivin expression. The aim of this study was to determine whether the subcellular localization of survivin correlates with GBM prognosis in patients who received the standard treatment protocol. ⋯ There was no significant difference in OS between patents whose survivin expression was exclusively nuclear or nuclear/cytoplasmic. CONCLUSIONS Nuclear expression of survivin is a factor for a poor prognosis in GBM patients. Subcellular localization of survivin can help to predict OS in GBM patients treated with the standard protocol.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Mar 2018
Surgery guided with intraoperative electrocorticography in patients with low-grade glioma and refractory seizures.
OBJECTIVE Using intraoperative electrocorticography (ECoG) to identify epileptogenic areas and improve postoperative seizure control in patients with low-grade gliomas (LGGs) remains inconclusive. In this study the authors retrospectively report on a surgery strategy that is based on intraoperative ECoG monitoring. METHODS A total of 108 patients with LGGs presenting at the onset of refractory seizures were included. ⋯ In these patients with epilepsy discharges located at the anterior part of the temporal lobe, satisfactory postoperative seizure control (93.3%) was achieved after resection of the tumor and the anterior part of the temporal lobe. CONCLUSIONS Intraoperative ECoG monitoring provided the exact location of epileptogenic areas and significantly improved postoperative seizure control of LGGs. In patients with temporal lobe LGGs, resection of the anterior temporal lobe with epileptic discharges was sufficient to control seizures.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Mar 2018
Bilateral deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus in primary Meige syndrome.
OBJECTIVE Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation has been shown to be effective in reducing symptoms of primary Meige syndrome. However, assessments of its efficacy and safety have been limited to several case reports and small studies. METHODS The authors performed a retrospective study to assess the efficacy and safety of bilateral subthalamic nucleus stimulation in 15 patients with primary Meige syndrome who responded poorly to medical treatments or botulinum toxin injections. ⋯ The authors also found that bilateral stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus immediately improved patient symptoms after stimulation and required lower stimulation parameters than those needed for pallidal deep brain stimulation for primary Meige syndrome. Four adverse events occurred in 3 patients; all of these events resolved without permanent sequelae. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide further evidence to support the long-term efficacy and safety of subthalamic nucleus stimulation as an alternative treatment for patients with medically intractable Meige syndrome.