Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia
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The flow-diverting Pipeline Embolization Device (PED; ev3 Neurovascular, Irvine, CA, USA) provides proven flow diversion for intracranial wide-necked and fusiform aneurysms. The tendency of the PED to migrate and foreshorten when its size is mismatched with the parent vessel makes its use more difficult for cervical carotid pseudoaneurysms, as the parent vessel regains its luminal diameter during the healing phase, and because of its mobility during head movement. We present a novel technique of using a Solitaire detachable stent (ev3 Neurovascular) to anchor PED constructs to mitigate these shortcomings. ⋯ As predicted, both patients revealed carotid luminal gain after aneurysm thrombosis with attendant migration (3.8 and 2.8mm) and expansion of the PED construct (14% and 7.8%) which remained constrained within the Solitaire anchoring device with persistent luminal patency and no evidence of endoleak at follow-up (3 and 5 months). The use of a concentric anchoring stent can mitigate the inherent tendency of the braided flow-diverting PED to migrate and foreshorten as the target vessel heals upon pseudoaneurysm thrombosis. This novel technique opens the possibility of using PED to treat shallow or fusiform lesions in mobile cervical arteries previously relegated to stent-supported coiling or surgical reconstruction.
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Stereotactic radiosurgery is generally accepted as one of the best treatment options for vestibular schwannomas. We question whether growth control is an accurate measure of success in vestibular schwannoma treatment. We aim to clarify the success rate of stereotactic radiosurgery and adjust the reported results to the benign natural history of untreated tumors. ⋯ Success in the treatment of vestibular schwannomas with stereotactic radiosurgery is often defined as lack of further growth. Recent data on the natural growth history of vestibular schwannomas raise the question of whether this is the best definition of success. We have identified a lack of continuity regarding the reporting of success and emphasize the importance of the clarification of the success of radiosurgery to make informed decisions regarding the best treatment options for vestibular schwannoma.
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Patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) after treatment with natalizumab have been considered co-incidental. We report another case of PCNSL in a patient where the explosive onset suggests a causal link.
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Intraventricular neurocysticercosis is an uncommon entity which may become symptomatic due to cerebrospinal fluid flow obstruction. Migration of intraventricular cysts through the ventricular spaces is a rare occurrence. This phenomenon is poorly understood but may be due to pressure changes within the ventricular cavities. ⋯ The migration of this cyst resulted in spontaneous relief of obstruction at the cerebral aqueduct, thus restoring normal cerebrospinal fluid pathways and avoiding permanent shunting. We discuss the possible mechanisms and implications of cyst migration, and the diagnostic challenges of concomitant findings of a pituitary mass and neurocysticercosis. Although the presence of a sellar and suprasellar mass in a patient with known neurocysticercosis should raise clinical suspicion for the possibility of sellar neurocysticercosis, pituitary macroadenoma is a more common entity and a more likely etiology for a sellar lesion.
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Neurophysiologic mapping of the primary motor cortex (PMC) is commonly used in supratentorial surgery. Electrical cortical stimulation is guided by anatomic landmarks towards the precentral gyrus, with recording of the triggered primary motor responses (TPMR) in the contralateral hemibody. Thus, factors such as distortion of the pericentral anatomy, small surgical fields, brain shifts and miscalibrated neuronavigational systems may lengthen the process and result in unnecessary stimulations, increasing the probability of triggering seizures. ⋯ Afterdischarges triggered before TPMR and lesions in close proximity to PMC decreased the rate of TPMR by 76% (HR 0.23, p<0.0001) and 48% (HR 0.52, p=0.04), respectively. Informative PRT decreases stimulation time. Afterdischarges triggered before TPMR, high motor thresholds and lesions close to the PMC increase it.