Neurosurgery
-
Multicenter Study
Effect of Restorative Neurostimulation on Major Drivers of Chronic Low Back Pain Economic Impact.
High-impact chronic low back pain (CLBP) correlates with high healthcare resource utilization. Therapies that can alter impact status may provide beneficial long-term economic benefits. An implantable restorative neurostimulation system (ReActiv8, Mainstay Medical) designed to over-ride multifidus inhibition to facilitate motor control restoration, thereby resolving mechanical low back pain symptoms, has shown significant durable clinical effects in moderately and severely impacted patients. ⋯ In addition to clinically meaningful improvements in pain and function with long-term durability, the overwhelming majority of patients transitioned from a high- to a no- or low-impact CLBP state. This is typically associated with significantly lower healthcare-utilization levels. The of recovery trajectory is consistent with a restorative mechanism of action and suggests that over the long term, the improvement in these health states will be maintained.
-
Augmented reality (AR) has demonstrated significant potential in neurosurgical cranial, spine, and teaching applications. External ventricular drain (EVD) placement remains a common procedure, but with error rates in targeting between 10% and 40%. ⋯ The novel VisAR AR system resulted in accurate placement of EVDs with a rapid learning curve, which may improve clinical treatment and patient safety. Future applications of VisAR can be expanded to other cranial procedures.
-
Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) causes drug-resistant epilepsy in children that can be cured surgically, but the lesions are often unseen by imaging. ⋯ A combination of multiple imaging techniques, including PET, ASL, and VBM analysis of T1-weighted images, is effective in detecting subtle FCD in children.
-
Surgical management of skull base chordomas has changed significantly in the past 2 decades, most notably with use of the endoscopic endonasal approach (EEA), although high quality outcome data using these modern approaches remain scarce. ⋯ In multivariable analysis, overall survival and progression-free survival of chordoma resection was most positively affected by radical resection, better preoperative functional status, and tumor location at the clivus rather than craniovertebral junction.
-
Postoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak is one of the most common complications after endoscopic endonasal approach to the skull base. ⋯ L-PRF reduced the rate of postoperative CSF leaks in patients with intraoperative leaks, without differences on postoperative meningitis.