World Neurosurg
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Venous thromboembolism (VTE), which includes deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, is a serious and potentially fatal surgical complication. The goal of our study was to examine preoperative characteristics, incidence, and outcomes of patients with VTE after elective thoracic/thoracolumbar level spine fusion. ⋯ Multivariate logistic regression analysis reveals age, insurance status, hospital type, combined anterior/posterior surgical approach, and the presence of congestive heart failure or weight loss to be independently associated with an increased odds ratio of VTE complication. This complication is associated with increased hospital costs, length of stay, and overall mortality.
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Tumor-to-tumor metastasis is a rare but well-known phenomenon. Among the more than 100 intracranial tumors reported, meningiomas are the most common type, whereas schwannoma is extremely rare. ⋯ [(18)F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography is effective in the preoperative diagnosis of rapidly growing cerebellopontine angle tumors in patients with a history of malignancy.