World Neurosurg
-
Complex skull base approaches are often used to treat lesions within the middle incisural space; yet the well-known retrosigmoid route may provide an effective avenue to this difficult-to-reach region. The purpose of this study was to quantify the exposure advantages on the middle incisural space provided by cutting of the tentorium cerebelli via a standard suboccipital retrosigmoid approach (i.e., via the cerebellopontine cistern route). Also, 2 illustrative cases are presented. ⋯ Tentorial incision may be useful to extend the rostral exposure of the middle incisural space via a simple retrosigmoid approach, avoiding the need for more complex skull base routes.
-
Case Reports
Severe intradural lumbar disc herniation with cranially-oriented free fragment migration.
Intrathecal disc herniation is a rare but serious condition that has the potential to generate devastating neurologic deficits. We present a case of a 56-year-old man who developed cauda equina syndrome after several episodes of severe Valsalva maneuver. ⋯ Cranially extending intrathecal disc herniations are a rare phenomenon and exceptionally uncommon above L3. The clinician should have a high level of suspicion for herniation when looking at the clinical and historical information consistent with such a diagnosis even in the presence of ambiguous imaging findings.
-
Focal hand dystonia in musicians, also known as musician's dystonia, is a task-specific movement disorder characterized by unwanted involuntary muscle contractions occurring only when playing a musical instrument. ⋯ The findings in these 2 cases indicate the utility of bilateral stereotactic Vo thalamotomy in the treatment of medically intractable musician's dystonia affecting both hands.
-
Cerebellar stroke causes major morbidity in the aging population. Guidelines from the American Stroke Association recommend emergent decompression in patients who have brainstem compression, hydrocephalus, or clinical deterioration. The objective of this study was to determine 30-day and 1-year mortality rates in patients >60 years old undergoing emergent posterior fossa decompression. ⋯ Increasing age and smaller craniectomy size were significantly associated with mortality in patients undergoing emergent posterior fossa decompression. Among patients ≥80 years old, one-quarter were dead within 1 month of the operation, and more than two-thirds were dead within 1 year.
-
To study the influence of tumor location (cervical vs. thoracic; extramedullary vs. intramedullary) on predictive value of intraoperative myogenic motor-evoked potentials (iMEP) changes in patients undergoing surgery for spinal cord tumors. ⋯ A strong association was observed between worsening of iMEPs and postoperative new neurological deficits in patients with TIM tumor.