Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Dec 1995
Cerebral perfusion pressure: management protocol and clinical results.
Early results using cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) management techniques in persons with traumatic brain injury indicate that treatment directed at CPP is superior to traditional techniques focused on intracranial pressure (ICP) management. The authors have continued to refine management techniques directed at CPP maintenance. One hundred fifty-eight patients with Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores of 7 or lower were managed using vascular volume expansion, cerebrospinal fluid drainage via ventriculostomy, systemic vasopressors (phenylephrine or norepinephrine), and mannitol to maintain a minimum CPP of at least 70 mm Hg. ⋯ Only 2% of the patients in the series remained vegatative and if patients survived, the likelihood of their having a favorable recovery was approximately 80%. These results are significantly better than other reported series across GCS categories in comparisons of death rates, survival versus dead or vegetative, or favorable versus nonfavorable outcome classifications (Mantel-Haenszel chi 2, p < 0.001). Better management could have improved outcome in as many as 35% to 50% of the deaths.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Dec 1995
A prospective 15-year follow up of 154 consecutive patients with trigeminal neuralgia treated by percutaneous stereotactic radiofrequency thermal rhizotomy.
There is a lack of prospective studies for the long-term results of percutaneous stereotactic radiofrequency rhizotomy (PSR) in the treatment of patients with trigeminal neuralgia. The authors present results in 154 consecutive patients with trigeminal neuralgia treated by PSR and prospectively followed for 15 years. Ninety-nine percent of the patients obtained initial pain relief after one PSR. ⋯ Of the 100 patients followed for 15 years after one or two PSR procedures, 95 patients (95%) rated the procedure excellent (77 patients) or good (18 patients). The authors conclude that PSR is an effective, safe treatment for trigeminal neuralgia. Dense hypalgesia in the painful trigger zone, rather than analgesia, should be the target lesion.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Dec 1995
Cannulated screws for odontoid screw fixation and atlantoaxial transarticular screw fixation. Technical note.
Cannulated screw systems use thin Kirschner wires (K-wires) that have been drilled into the bone to direct screw trajectories accurately into small bone fragments. Use of the K-wires avoids overdrilling the pilot holes and allows fixation of adjacent bone fragments during screw insertion. Hollow tools and hollow screws are inserted into the bone over the K-wires. ⋯ A unique cannulated screw tool system was developed specifically for upper cervical fixation to allow percutaneous drilling using long tunneling devices, tissue sheaths, drill guides, and long K-wires. These tools allow delivery of cannulated fracture-fixation screws at a low angle to the spine through long soft-tissue trajectories. Cannulated screws have significant advantages compared to noncannulated screws for fixation of the unstable cervical spine.
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Purified thrombin from an exogenous source is a hemostatic agent commonly used in neurosurgical procedures. The toxicity of thrombin in the brain, however, has not been examined. This study was performed to assess the effect of thrombin on brain parenchyma, using the formation of brain edema as an indicator of injury. ⋯ Thrombin-induced brain edema was accompanied by increases in brain sodium and chloride contents and a decrease in brain potassium content. Changes in brain ions were inhibited by both hirudin and alpha-NAPAP, corresponding to the inhibition of brain water accumulation. This study shows that thrombin causes brain edema when infused into the brain at concentrations as low as 1 U/microliter, an amount within the range of concentrations used for topical hemostasis in neurosurgery.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Nov 1995
Clinical TrialInterim report on the radiosurgical treatment of cerebral arteriovenous malformations. The influence of size, dose, time, and technical factors on obliteration rate.
During the authors' initial 4-year experience with radiosurgery using the Leksell cobalt-60 gamma unit, they treated 121 patients with cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). The radiosurgical dose to the margin of the nidus was 20 Gy for lesions less than 2.0 cm in diameter (volume < or = 4.2 cm3); 18 Gy for malformations 2.1 to 3.0 cm in diameter (volume 4.2-14.1 cm3); and 16 Gy for malformations greater than 3.0 cm (volume > 14.1 cm3). Fifty-one patients underwent follow-up angiography between 1 and 3 years after treatment, and complete obliteration of the nidus was confirmed in 38 (74.5%) of these patients. ⋯ The authors infer from these data that malformations up to 30 cm3 in volume (approximately 4.0 cm in average diameter) can be treated effectively with an acceptably low complication rate using a radiosurgical dose of 16 Gy to the margin of the nidus. The obliteration rate for the larger malformations that were treated with a dose of 16 to 18 Gy appears to be similar to that for smaller ones treated with 18 to 20 Gy. As more experience accrues using radiosurgery to treat AVMs, patient selection criteria and the variables associated with successful obliteration of the nidus should become more clearly defined.