Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia
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This study aims to evaluate the benefits of intraoperative indocyanine green (ICG) videoangiography and associated surgical outcomes of patients with spinal vascular malformations. ICG videoangiography was used during 24 surgical interventions to treat spinal vascular malformations at the Beijing Tiantan Hospital from August 2009 to May 2011. The vascular malformations were removed or the fistulae were occluded with the assistance of ICG videoangiography. ⋯ Three patients were lost to follow up; 21 patients were followed clinically with a mean follow up of 7.5 months. The neurological deficits completely resolved in six patients, improved significantly in 10, remained stable in two, and were aggravated in three patients. Our experience shows that intraoperative ICG videoangiography offers useful information on the pathological and physiological vascular anatomy encountered during surgery for spinal vascular malformations.
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Surgical outcomes for large and giant intracranial aneurysms are suboptimal. Two important reasons for higher complication rates are either occlusion of perforators or parent arteries during aneurysm clipping, or prolonged temporary occlusion of the main arteries. Somatosensory-evoked potential (SSEP) monitoring and transcranial motor-evoked potential (TcMEP) monitoring are standard techniques for monitoring ischemia either during temporary arterial occlusion or after permanent clipping. ⋯ In addition to this, the inclusion of FCoMEP improved the sensitivity of extremity muscle motor-evoked potential (ExMEP, which included TcMEP) monitoring (from 80% to 100%). In the long-term assessment, a favorable outcome was achieved in 16 of the 21 patients (76%). In conclusion, FCoMEP provides complementary corticobulbar tract information for detecting perforating vessel compromise that may lead to motor impairment and that is not identified by ExMEP.
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Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) often leads to hydrocephalus, which is commonly treated by placement of a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt. There is controversy over which factors affect the need for such treatment. In this study, data were prospectively collected from 389 consecutive patients who presented with an aneurysm-associated SAH at a single center. ⋯ Patients with an initial GCS score of 8-14 after aneurysm-associated SAH had a 2.5-fold higher risk of receiving a VP shunt than those with a GCS score of 3-7. Those with a GCS of 15 had a 50% lower risk of becoming shunt dependent than did the subgroup with a GCS score of 8-14. To clarify and strengthen these observations, prospective, randomized trials are needed.
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Ventricular enlargement is a common finding after severe head injury and has a poor prognosis if associated with post-traumatic hydrocephalus (PTH). We retrospectively reviewed our head injury database and identified patients who suffered from severe head injury and subsequently had shunt insertion after a diagnosis of PTH. A total of 871 patients with severe head injury were admitted from April 1999 to December 2006. ⋯ PTH is a condition that has an insidious onset with varying clinical and radiological presentations. The incidence is low but there is a significant benefit from ventricular shunt insertion. The use of cerebrospinal fluid dynamic studies, in addition to clinical and radiological findings, has the potential for better diagnosis and management of these patients.
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The nociceptive flexion reflex (NFR) has become a popular tool in experimental and clinical pain research. However, the gradual decrease of the reflex size during repeated application of stimuli, which is termed habituation, may reduce its validity and the comparability of studies. We investigated the degree of habituation at different inter-stimulus intervals (ISI) commonly used in clinical studies and the dependency of habituation on stimulus intensity. ⋯ We conclude that habituation of the NFR is dependent on ISI and stimulus intensity. Lower stimulus intensities and shorter ISI lead to stronger habituation. Therefore, to ensure habituation is avoided during repeated elicitation of the NFR, stimulation should be conducted according to the ISI for the respective stimulus intensities presented here.