J Neurosurg Sci
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Metastatic involvement of brachial plexopathy is a rare condition that is often associated with advanced systemic breast cancer and the role of surgeon appears to be restricted because radio-chemotherapy is better recommended in this setting. We report a case of a 64-year-old woman that presented a very delayed breast cancer metastatic lower trunks lesions without associated radiation injury, treated by surgery. ⋯ So that surgical exploration and neurolysis should be performed as soon as possible after appearance of neurological deficits before denervation signs occurs. General surgeon presence should be warranted for more radical removal of remain lymph nodes and metastatic nodal infiltration of adjacent anatomical structures (vessels and so on) when detected by preoperative radiological work-up.
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Comparative Study
Regional brain injury epidemiology as the basis for planning brain injury treatment. The Romagna (Italy) experience.
Neurosurgical services for traumatic brain injury (TBI) should be based upon the understanding of the epidemiology of TBI in the region as well as the clinical parameters. Our objective was to measure incidence and epidemiologic factors associated with TBI in the Romagna region of Northeastern Italy and correlate those parameters with neurosurgical imaging and related clinical features. ⋯ Incidence of TBI in Italy is similar to other published European series. The number of minor brain injuries admitted for hospital care remains high and can be significantly reduced with better use of CT scans in adults whenever possible. The workload for a neurosurgical unit servicing a population of 1 million is limited and does not justify the opening of new units for trauma care or the use of craniotomies outside the Neurosurgical Unit.