Neurosurgery
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Firearm-related injury is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in pediatric populations. Despite a disproportionate role in the most morbid outcomes in both traumatic brain injury and firearm-related injury populations, firearm-related traumatic brain injury (frTBI) is an understudied epidemiological entity. There is need to increase understanding and promote interventions that reduce this burden of disease. ⋯ By understanding published epidemiological data and areas of intervention shown to reduce frTBIs, neurosurgeons can become further engaged in public health and prevention rather than strictly treatment after injury.
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Meningioma is the most common primary central nervous system neoplasm, accounting for about a third of all brain tumors. Because their growth rates and prognosis cannot be accurately estimated, biomarkers that enable prediction of their biological behavior would be clinically beneficial. ⋯ Transcriptomic sequencing revealed specific gene expression signatures of various clinical subtypes of meningioma. Expression of the lnc-GOLGA61-1 transcript was found to be the most reliable predictor of meningioma recurrence.
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Deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson disease provides significant improvement of motor symptoms but can also produce neurocognitive side effects. A decline in verbal fluency (VF) is among the most frequently reported side effects. Preoperative factors that could predict VF decline have yet to be identified. ⋯ Postoperative VF can be accurately predicted using preoperative neurobehavioral rating scores above and beyond preoperative VF score and relies on performance over different aspects of executive function.
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Many patients with severe traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) undergo withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies (WLSTs) or transition to comfort measures, but noninjury factors that influence this decision have not been well characterized. We hypothesized that WLST would be associated with institutional and geographic noninjury factors. All patients with a head Abbreviated Injury Scale score ≥3 were identified from 2016 Trauma Quality Improvement Program data. ⋯ Variations were also discovered based on US region, hospital characteristics, and neurosurgical procedures. WLST in severe TBI is independently associated with noninjury factors such as sex, age, race, hospital characteristics, and geographic region. The effect of noninjury factors on these decisions is poorly understood; further study of WLST patterns can aid health care providers in decision making for patients with severe TBI.
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Patient frailty is predictive of higher neurosurgical morbidity and mortality. However, existing frailty measures are hindered by lack of specificity to neurosurgery. ⋯ Patient frailty predicted poorer inpatient outcomes after VS surgery. Our custom VS-5 score outperformed earlier risk stratification scores.