Neurosurgical review
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Neurosurgical review · Apr 2009
Effect of cervical dynamics on adjacent segment degeneration after anterior cervical fusion with cages.
The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) on the motion of the cervical spine and dynamic stress (tendency to kyphosis) on adjacent segments and on the overall spinal alignment which may predispose to symptomatic disc diseases at other levels. Twenty consecutive patients underwent ACDF with a mean follow-up of 28 months (range 13-38). Preoperative and postoperative clinical assessments were done by using the neck disability index (NDI) and the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score. ⋯ The follow-up MRI showed, in all cases, good decompression in the treated levels. Compensatory increase in ROM of the contiguous motion segments in patients subjected to ACDF may lead to ASD especially in those cases with asymptomatic adjacent subclinical degenerative disease. If these preliminary results will be confirmed by larger series, it could be reasonable in young selected patients with soft disc herniation to adopt total disc arthroplasty instead of fusion after cervical micro-discectomy.
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Neurosurgical review · Oct 2008
Controlled Clinical TrialSerum neuron-specific enolase as a predictor of short-term outcome and its correlation with Glasgow Coma Scale in traumatic brain injury.
Elevated serum neuron-specific enolase levels are correlated with brain cell damage. Low scores according to Glasgow Coma Scale are also considered as serious poor prognostic factor. The aims of the study were to investigate whether there is a correlation between the two measurements in patients with traumatic brain injury and whether serum neuron-specific enolase levels have potential as a screening test to predict outcome. ⋯ There was a significant negative correlation between the serum neuron-specific enolase levels and Glasgow Coma Scale scores. The levels of neuron-specific enolase were significantly higher in the patients who died in 30 days after trauma and whose scores were lower than or equal to 8 points in Glasgow Coma Scale. Although there are several serious limitations of the use of neuron-specific enolase as a biomarker in traumatic brain injury (i.e., hypoperfusion, extracranial trauma, bleeding, liver, or kidney damage also increase the level of neuron-specific enolase), its concentrations may be useful as a practical and helpful screening test to identify neurotrauma patients who are at increased risk and may provide supplementary estimation with radiological and clinical findings.
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Neurosurgical review · Oct 2008
Risk factors for posttraumatic cerebral infarction in patients with moderate or severe head trauma.
We examined the incidence and timing of posttraumatic cerebral infarction (PTCI) and provide predictive factors for the development of PTCI in patients with moderate or severe traumatic brain injury. Three hundred and fifty-three consecutive patients with moderate or severe head trauma were retrospectively reviewed to determine the incidence and timing of PTCI and to evaluate the effects of age, gender, admission Glasgow Coma Scores (GCS), decompressive craniectomy, brain herniation, and low systolic blood pressure (BP) on the development of cerebral infarction. Risk factors for posttraumatic cerebral infarction were evaluated using logistic regression analysis. ⋯ No relationship was found between PTCI and gender or increased age. Posttraumatic cerebral infarction is a relatively common complication in patients with head trauma that develops early in the clinical course. Low GCS, low systolic BP, brain herniation, and decompression craniotomy may be risk factors for PTCI in patients with moderate or severe traumatic brain injury.
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Neurosurgical review · Oct 2008
Aneurysm clipping after endovascular treatment with coils: a report of 13 cases.
In 1996, Civit et al. (Neurosurgery, 38:955-961, 1996) reported a series of eight patients whose aneurysms were clipped after previous embolization with coils. This paper highlighted the safety of this surgery in second line, with a low complication rate and a favorable outcome. The two major surgical indications were either after deliberate partial occlusion of the aneurysm (N=3) or partial occlusion after endovascular treatment (N=3). ⋯ It is a safe and effective procedure, probably under-used. Nowadays, "hemostatic" and incomplete embolization of an aneurysm increases the risk of future growth and rebleeding of the residual pouch. An additional aneurysm clipping may therefore be required rapidly after embolization.
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Neurosurgical review · Jul 2008
Review Historical ArticleHistorical trends of neuroendoscopic surgical techniques in the treatment of hydrocephalus.
The treatment of hydrocephalus nowadays is still a challenge for neurosurgery. Neuroendoscopy is a valuable alternative of the CSF shunts in hydrocephalus management. ⋯ The historical milestones and state of the art of neuroendoscopic treatment of hydrocephalus are reviewed for each of its surgical techniques: choroid plexus coagulation, third ventriculostomy, aqueductoplasty, septostomy, foraminal plasty of the foramen of Monro, and foraminal plasty of the foramen of Magendie. The future trends of neuroendoscopic treatment of hydrocephalus such as robotics, image-guided neuroendoscopic surgical techniques, treatment "in utero", application of stem cell therapy, implementation of new technological solutions, and so on are discussed in the light of the approaching end of the century of neuroendoscopy.