Journal of neurosurgery
-
Journal of neurosurgery · Feb 2024
ReviewOutcomes following surgical intervention for acute hemorrhage in severe traumatic brain injury: a review of the National Trauma Data Bank.
Severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a public health issue posing significant morbidity and mortality to afflicted patients. While the effect of time to surgery as the primary factor for survival has been extensively studied, long-term dispositional outcomes following intracranial hemorrhage evacuation have not been well described in the literature. Therefore, the aim of this study was to elicit potential prognostic factors in patients presenting with severe TBI that may have a significant impact on discharge disposition. ⋯ Neurosurgical evacuation of intracranial hemorrhage in severe TBI has variable long-term morbidity. Utilizing the largest collection of trauma data within the United States, the authors present quantitative evidence on discharge disposition. Understanding these tangible points can help neurosurgeons present potential outcomes to patients, promote preventative care, and generate tangible conversations with patients and their family members.
-
Journal of neurosurgery · Feb 2024
Review Meta AnalysisTraumatic vertebral artery injury: Denver grade, bilaterality, and stroke risk. A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Vertebral artery injury (VAI), a complication of blunt trauma, may cause posterior circulation stroke. An association of disease severity, classified in Denver grades, with stroke risk has not been shown. Using a literature-based analysis, the authors estimated the incidence of VAI following blunt trauma with the aim to investigate the impact of Denver grade and bilateral VAI on stroke occurrence. ⋯ VAI complicates a small yet nontrivial fraction of blunt trauma cases, with Denver grade IV lesions being the most common. This is the first study to document a significantly higher stroke prevalence among grade III and IV VAIs compared with grade I and II VAIs independently from bilaterality. Bilateral VAIs carry a significantly higher stroke rate.
-
Journal of neurosurgery · Feb 2024
Review Meta AnalysisTraumatic vertebral artery injury: Denver grade, bilaterality, and stroke risk. A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Vertebral artery injury (VAI), a complication of blunt trauma, may cause posterior circulation stroke. An association of disease severity, classified in Denver grades, with stroke risk has not been shown. Using a literature-based analysis, the authors estimated the incidence of VAI following blunt trauma with the aim to investigate the impact of Denver grade and bilateral VAI on stroke occurrence. ⋯ VAI complicates a small yet nontrivial fraction of blunt trauma cases, with Denver grade IV lesions being the most common. This is the first study to document a significantly higher stroke prevalence among grade III and IV VAIs compared with grade I and II VAIs independently from bilaterality. Bilateral VAIs carry a significantly higher stroke rate.
-
Journal of neurosurgery · Feb 2024
ReviewOncolytic viral therapy: a review and promising future directions.
Oncolytic viral therapy is quickly emerging as a promising subset of immunotherapy, which theoretically can target tumor cells while sparing surrounding healthy cells by harnessing the replication machinery of viruses with tropism for tumor cells, resulting in direct oncolysis, and by transforming immunologically "cold" tumor into areas that elicit the host's immune response. This review provides an overview of oncolytic viral therapy until the present day, starting with the original concept in 1912. The general mechanism of oncolytic viruses (OVs) depends on selectively integrating them into tumor cells based on genetic engineering of viral genomic material, inducing oncolysis and eliciting the host's innate immune response. ⋯ In particular, the lack of an optimal delivery method based on tumor type for oncolytic viral therapy poses a significant obstacle, even in clinical studies. Intrathecal continuous delivery of OVs is a promising prospect, potentially by adapting the novel continuous irrigation and drainage IRRAflow catheter. Further exploration and testing of the IRRAflow catheter should be undertaken.
-
Journal of neurosurgery · Feb 2024
Meta AnalysisTrigeminal neuralgia pain outcomes following microsurgical resection versus stereotactic radiosurgery for petroclival meningiomas: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Petroclival meningiomas (PCMs) are challenging lesions to treat because of their deep location and proximity to critical neurovascular structures. Patients with these lesions commonly present because of local mass effect. A symptom that proves challenging to definitively manage is trigeminal neuralgia (TN), which occurs in approximately 5% of PCM cases. To date, there is no consensus on whether microsurgical resection or stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) leads to better outcomes in the treatment of TN secondary to PCM. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, the authors aimed to evaluate the available literature on the efficacy of microsurgical resection versus SRS for controlling TN secondary to PCM. ⋯ Microsurgical resection is associated with higher rates of TN pain resolution and lower rates of pain persistence and exacerbation than SRS in the treatment of PCM. SRS with further TN management is a viable alternative in patients who are not good candidates for microsurgical resection.