Neurosurgery
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Review Meta Analysis
A systematic review of nerve transfer and nerve repair for the treatment of adult upper brachial plexus injury.
Nerve reconstruction for upper brachial plexus injury consists of nerve repair and/or transfer. Current literature lacks evidence supporting a preferred surgical treatment for adults with such injury involving shoulder and elbow function. We systematically reviewed the literature published from January 1990 to February 2011 using multiple databases to search the following: brachial plexus and graft, repair, reconstruction, nerve transfer, neurotization. ⋯ Therefore, for elbow flexion recovery, nerve transfer is somewhat more effective than nerve repair; however, no particular reconstruction strategy was found to be superior to recover shoulder abduction. When considering nerve reconstruction strategies, our findings do not support the sole use of nerve transfer in upper brachial plexus injury without operative exploration to provide a clear understanding of the pathoanatomy. Supraclavicular brachial plexus exploration plays an important role in developing individual surgical strategies, and nerve repair (when donor stumps are available) should remain the standard for treatment of upper brachial plexus injury except in isolated cases solely lacking elbow flexion.
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Long-term results of enterprise stent-assisted coiling of cerebral aneurysms.
The Enterprise Vascular Reconstruction Device and Delivery System (Cordis; the Enterprise stent) was approved for use in conjunction with coiling of wide-necked aneurysms in 2007. No published long-term aneurysm occlusion or complication data exist for the Enterprise system. ⋯ Although this study is limited by its retrospective nature, the Enterprise stent system appears to be an effective, safe, and durable treatment for intracranial aneurysms when used in conjunction with coiling.
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The Pipeline Embolization Device (PED) is a flow diverter designed to treat intracranial aneurysms through endoluminal parent vessel reconstruction. The role of adjunctive coil embolization is unknown. ⋯ Flow diversion is an evolutionary step in the treatment of giant intracranial aneurysms. However, complete aneurysm occlusion occurs over a delayed period. The authors recommend placement of coils in addition to PED in the treatment of large or giant distal intracranial aneurysms in an attempt to protect the dome. However, robust packing is to be avoided because it can lead to acute PED thrombotic or compressive occlusion.