Neurosurgery
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Clinical neuroproteomics aims to advance our understanding of disease and injury affecting the central and peripheral nervous systems through the study of protein expression and the discovery of protein biomarkers to facilitate diagnosis and treatment. The general premise of the biomarker field is that in vivo factors present in either tissue or circulating biofluids, reflect pathological changes, and can be identified and analyzed. This approach offers an opportunity to illuminate changes occurring at both the population and patient levels toward the realization of personalized medicine. ⋯ We describe the application of microfluidic technologies to the evolution of a robust clinical test. Finally, we highlight several biomarkers currently in use for cancer, ischemia, and injury in the central nervous system. Future efforts using these technologies will result in the maturation of existing and the identification of de novo biomarkers that could guide clinical decision making and advance diagnostic and therapeutic options for the treatment of neurological disease and injury.
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ε-Aminocaproic acid (EACA) has been used to reduce the rate of cerebral aneurysm rerupture before definitive treatment. In centers administering EACA to patients with a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), patients eventually diagnosed with angiographically negative subarachnoid hemorrhage (ANSAH) may also initially receive EACA, perhaps placing them at increased risk for ischemic complications. ⋯ Short-term (<72 hour) application of EACA does not result in an increase in adverse events in patients with ANSAH.
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No definite conclusive management has been established in the treatment of thromboembolism during coil embolization of cerebral aneurysms. To date, intravenous heparin, intra-arterial fibrinolytic agent, and intravenous or intra-arterial glycoprotein IIb-IIIa inhibitors have been the mainstay of treatment. However, in practice, 2 major concerns may arise; first, recanalization is not always possible despite every effort of management; second, rehemorrhagic risk is increased if the event occurred during coiling of ruptured cerebral aneurysms. ⋯ Forced-suction thrombectomy is a simple modification of the Penumbra System. Based on our preliminary data, this technique can play a role as an adjuvant management or as a last resort combined with injection of glycoprotein IIb-IIIa inhibitors in thromboembolic events that occur in coil embolization of a ruptured cerebral aneurysm.
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Case Reports
Use of the Ascent balloon for a 2-in-1 remodeling technique: feasibility and initial experience: case report.
To present the feasibility of using the Ascent balloon, a new double-lumen remodeling balloon, for a new 2-in-1 technique allowing coiling through the lumen of the balloon without the use of an additional coiling microcatheter. Remodeling technique had enlarged the indications for endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysm. Nevertheless, one of the limitations of this technique is that it requires using 2 devices in the same parent artery. ⋯ This new 2-in-1 technique using a sole remodeling balloon without an additional coiling microcatheter is very promising, especially in cases of a small-caliber parent artery.
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For postcraniotomy surgical site infection (SSI) involving the bone, typical management involves craniectomy, debridement, and delayed cranioplasty. Disadvantages to delayed cranioplasty include cosmetic deformity, vulnerability of unprotected brain, and risks and costs associated with an additional operation. Many authors have attempted bone flap salvage by using various techniques. ⋯ This series demonstrates the safety and feasibility of performing immediate titanium cranioplasty at the time of craniectomy and debridement in patients with postcraniotomy infections. This has been shown in patients with risk factors for poor wound healing. Immediate cranioplasty avoids the drawbacks, risks, and costs of delayed cranioplasty.