Neurosurgery
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Multiple cerebral cavernous malformations (mCCMs) are known as potentially epileptogenic lesions. Treatment might be multimodal. Management of patients with mCCMs and epilepsy is challenging. ⋯ After initial diagnosis of epilepsy associated to mCCMs, a primary conservative approach is reasonable. Surgical treatment can be successful in a large fraction of cases with drug-resistant epilepsy where an epileptogenic lesion is identified. Cases where surgery is not undertaken are likely to remain intractable.
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Manual skill is important for surgeons, but current methods to evaluate sensory-motor skills in applicants to a surgical residency are limited. ⋯ Our study represents a first step in the direction of an objective, standard, computer-scored test of motor and haptic ability.
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: The development of technical skills is a major goal of any neurosurgical training program. Residency programs in North America are focused on achieving an adequate level of training to produce technically competent surgeons. The training requirements and educational environments needed to produce expert surgeons are incompletely understood. ⋯ Such curricula should include objective assessments of technical skills, appropriate feedback, and a distributed schedule of deliberate practice. Implementing a focus on the development of expertise rather than simple competency in surgical performance will lead to innovative developments in the field of neurosurgical education. Novel technologies, such as simulation, will play important roles in the training of future expert surgeons, and focused technical skills curricula with a sound theoretical basis should guide the development of all such programs.