Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Sep 2021
Gender diversity in United States neurosurgery training programs.
Neurosurgery continues to be one of the medical specialties with the lowest representation of females in both the resident and faculty workforce. Currently, there are limited available data on the gender distribution of faculty and residents in Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited neurosurgery training programs. This information is critical to accurately measure the results of any effort to improve both the recruitment and retention of women in neurosurgery. The objective of the current study was to define the current gender distribution of faculty and residents in ACGME-accredited neurosurgery training programs. ⋯ This study serves to provide a current snapshot of gender diversity in ACGME-accredited neurosurgery training programs. While there are still fewer female neurosurgeons achieving positions of higher academic rank and serving in leadership positions than male neurosurgeons, the authors' findings suggest that this is likely due to the small number of women in the neurosurgical field who are the farthest away from residency graduation and serves to highlight the significant progress that has been made toward achieving greater gender diversity in the neurosurgical workforce.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Sep 2021
Meralgia paresthetica treated by injection, decompression, and neurectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis of pain and operative outcomes.
Meralgia paresthetica is caused by entrapment of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve (LFCN) and often presents with pain. Multiple treatment options targeting the LFCN can be pursued to treat the pain should conservative measures fail, with the most common options being injection, neurolysis, and neurectomy. However, their efficacy in causing pain relief and their clinical outcomes have yet to be directly compared. The aim of this study was to interrogate the contemporary literature and quantitatively define how these options compare. ⋯ There are multiple treatment options to target pain in meralgia paresthetica. The incidence of complete pain relief appears to be the greatest among the 3 interventions after neurectomy, accompanied by the lowest incidence of revision procedures. These findings should help inform patient preference and expectations. Greater exploration of the anatomical rationale for incomplete pain relief after surgical intervention will assist in optimizing further surgical treatment for meralgia paresthetica.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Sep 2021
MR-guided focused ultrasound pallidotomy for Parkinson's disease: safety and feasibility.
Stereotactic radiofrequency pallidotomy has demonstrated improvement in motor fluctuations in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), particularly levodopa (L-dopa)-induced dyskinesias. The authors aimed to determine whether or not unilateral pallidotomy with MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) could safely improve Unified Dyskinesia Rating Scale (UDysRS; the primary outcome measure) scores over baseline scores in patients with PD. ⋯ This study supports the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of MRgFUS pallidotomy in the treatment of patients with PD and motor fluctuations, including dyskinesias. These preliminary data support continued investigation, and a placebo-controlled, blinded trial is in progress. Clinical trial registration no.: NCT02263885 (clinicaltrials.gov).
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Journal of neurosurgery · Sep 2021
Internal dose escalation associated with increased local control for melanoma brain metastases treated with stereotactic radiosurgery.
The internal high-dose volume varies widely for a given prescribed dose during stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) to treat brain metastases (BMs). This may be altered during treatment planning, and the authors have previously shown that this improves local control (LC) for non-small cell lung cancer BMs without increasing toxicity. Here, they seek to identify potentially actionable dosimetric predictors of LC after SRS for melanoma BM. ⋯ For a given prescription dose, an increased internal high-dose volume, as indicated by measures such as V30 ≥ 25%, is associated with improved LC but not increased toxicity in single-fraction SRS for melanoma BM. Internal dose escalation is an independent predictor of improved LC even in patients receiving immunotherapy and/or targeted therapy. This represents a dosimetric parameter that is actionable at the time of treatment planning and warrants further evaluation.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Sep 2021
Resident evaluations in the age of competency-based medical education: faculty perspectives on minimizing burdens.
Competency-based medical education (CBME), an outcomes-based approach to medical education, continues to be implemented across many postgraduate medical education programs worldwide, including a recent introduction into Canadian neurosurgical training programs (July 2019). The success of this educational paradigm shift requires frequent faculty observation and evaluation of residents performing defined tasks of the specialty. A main challenge involves providing residents with frequent performance evaluations and feedback that are feasible for faculty to complete. This study aims to define what is currently happening and what changes are needed to make CBME successful for the certification of neurosurgeons' competence. ⋯ To facilitate the successful implementation of CBME into a neurosurgical training curriculum, resident EPA assessment forms should take 3 minutes or less to complete and be accessible through a mobile application.