Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia
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Recently the debate over the management of cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) has regained interest; more specifically whether treatment should be operative versus non-operative, raising the question about the real effectiveness of surgery in influencing the natural history of this pathology and about the choice of the most appropriate approach (anterior vs. posterior). The authors report a retrospective review of 70 consecutive patients who underwent elective anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion with iliac crest autograft or titanium mesh and placement of an anterior cervical plate for the treatment of CSM. The patients underwent pre-and postoperative evaluation, including history, and physical and neurological examination. ⋯ Preoperative spinal cord low signal intensity changes on T1-weighted MRI were related to a lower postoperative mJOA score (p < 0.05), whereas spinal cord high-signal intensity changes on T2-weighted MRI were related to a higher postoperative mJOA score (p < 0.01); finally a lower preoperative mJOA score was highly predictive of a lower postoperative mJOA score (p < 0.0005). Anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion for CSM appears to be an effective procedure with a more favorable neurological improvement when compared to posterior decompressive laminectomy, minimally invasive procedures or non-surgical treatment. It is also a safe procedure even in the elderly population, with low morbidity and the potential for permanent spinal cord decompression and excellent bone stability.
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Bickerstaff's brain-stem encephalitis is usually a monophasic post-viral inflammatory illness characterized by progressive ophthalmoplegia, ataxia and disturbance of consciousness (or hyper-reflexia). Since the clinical spectrum of Bickerstaff encephalitis may overlap with the Miller-Fisher and Guillain-Barré syndromes, the presence of anti- GQ1b antibodies and abnormal brain MRI can help to support its diagnosis. However, absence of anti-GQ1b antibodies and normal MRI do not exclude the diagnosis, which remains based on clinical criteria and exclusion of other etiologies. We report a case of recurrent Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis with no identifiable antecedent illness, and overlapping features of Miller Fisher and Guillain-Barré syndromes, in the presence of negative anti-GQ1b antibodies and repeatedly normal MRI of the brain.
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Intraoperative applications of intracranial pressure monitoring in patients with severe head injury.
From December 2002 to January 2004, 30 patients (20 men and 10 women; mean age 36.8 years [+/- 14.9 years]) with preoperative Glasgow Coma Scale scores of 8 or less underwent emergency haematoma evacuation surgery and continuous intracranial pressure (ICP), cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) and mean arterial blood pressure monitoring to determine ICP and CPP thresholds to predict patient outcomes. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted. Using the ROC curve, the diagnostic accuracy is given by the area under the curve and at the point on the curve farthest from the diagonal, which indicates the threshold value. ⋯ The initial ICP for favourable outcomes was 26.4 +/- 10.1 mmHg, resulting in a CPP of 48.8 +/- 13.4 mmHg. The CPP had the largest area under the ROC curve in all stages of the operation, corresponding to intraoperative CPP thresholds of 37 mmHg (initial), 51.8 mmHg (intraoperative) and 52 mmHg (after scalp closure). The ROC curve analysis showed that CPP was a better predictor of outcome than ICP.
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Lesions responsible for thalamic pain are often thought to involve the ventral posteromedial nucleus and ventral posterolateral nucleus of the thalamus. We describe two patients with allodynia and hyperpathia in the contralateral flank caused by a small lesion in the posteroventral part of the thalamus. When considered with the literature, involvement of the ventral posteroinferior nucleus may be responsible for this unique post-stroke pain syndrome.
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Case Reports
Rhabdomyolysis after cerebral perfusion pressure-guided management in severe head injury.
Intravenous infusion of norepinephrine is usually effective and safe to maintain adequate cerebral perfusion pressure for the management of posttraumatic intracranial hypertension. We report the case of a 17-year-old woman who suffered from traumatic intracranial bleeding and hypotension; she developed rhabdomyolysis, myoglobinuria and acute renal failure after receiving high dose norepinephrine postoperatively. Hemodialysis was begun 3 days after the onset of myoglobinuria when acute renal failure was noted, despite aggressive fluid supplementation and alkaline diuresis. ⋯ Her kidneys eventually regained normal function. We consider that systemic hypotension may have been the leading cause for development of rhabdomyolysis, and vasoconstrictors such as norepinephrine aggravated this. We emphasise the potentially devastating consequences of rhabdomyolysis when a large dose of norepinephrine is given for the treatment of hypotension during cerebral perfusion pressure-guided management.