Neurosurgery
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The object of this study was to determine whether the addition of information on brain stem reflexes improves the prognostic precision of the Glasgow coma scale for patients with severe head trauma. The study is based on 109 patients with a Glasgow coma score of 7 or less during the first 24 hours after injury. The average age was 23 years. ⋯ We showed that the predictive capabilities of brain stem reflexes were greater than those of motor responses. Although closely related (r = 0.68), the use of these two parameters in a single scale, the Glasgow-Liege scale, improves the precision of prognosis, especially for those head trauma patients with initial and complete loss of consciousness. Age was also revealed to be an important factor for outcome prediction.
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For many neurosurgical procedures, elective hypotension is used to reduce the risk of cerebral vessel rupture and hypocapnia is used to constrict cerebral vessels, thereby reducing cerebral blood volume. Although nitroglycerin (NTG) often is used to produce hypotension during neurological surgery, it is not known whether NTG-induced cerebral vasodilation interferes with the cerebral vasoconstrictor response to hypocapnia. This study examined cerebral vascular responses to hypocapnia during NTG-induced hypotension in eight dogs that were lightly anesthetized with halothane and had an open cranium. ⋯ CO2 responsiveness, as indicated by increased CVR and decreased CBF, was intact at normal MAP but absent during hypotension. These results suggest that the cerebral vasodilation that accompanies NTG-induced hypotension exerts a greater influence on cerebral vessels than the cerebral vasoconstricting influence of hypocapnia. It is concluded that, during NTG-induced hypotension and craniotomy, hypocapnia will not reduce cerebral blood volume or further decrease CBF to cause ischemia.
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At the combined Annual Meeting of the Hellenic Neurosurgical Society and the Middle East Neurosurgical Society in Athens on April 10-13, 1983, a round table discussion of neurosurgical training in the Middle East took place. The types of training programs available in the panel members' respective countries were discussed, and the quality, requirements, and standards of training were delineated. Neurosurgical manpower in the Middle East was reviewed. The panelists explored the need for unification of programs and standardization and review of training and called for a well-recognized certification in neurosurgery among the countries of the Middle East.
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Continuous flow pumps are being used for the delivery of morphine sulfate to the intrathecal and epidural space for control of pain. We have encountered several patients who had a combination of pain and spasticity or who had spasticity so intense that it was the source of pain. ⋯ Three such patients have subsequently undergone pump implantation with prolonged control of their spasticity. This has initiated a formal clinical investigation directed at determining the physiological mechanism of this phenomenon, as well as its long term efficacy.
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Posttraumatic aneurysms of the proximal intracranial internal carotid artery are rare. A case is presented in which the evolution and regression of such an aneurysm is documented by computed tomography as well as by arteriography. The coexistence of a proximal dissection of the cervical carotid artery probably contributed to the growth of the aneurysm.