World Neurosurg
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Isolated lower segment sacral fracture is very rare. To the best of our knowledge, there is only one case report of S4 stable fracture that was treated conservatively. ⋯ Sacral fracture is difficult to diagnose, especially when the patient has multiple injuries. This is because the emergency doctor may not perform a neurologic examination of the perineum and may miss its diagnosis. Another reason for its misdiagnosis is that the routine anteroposterior plain X-ray may not detect it. Trauma patients with sacrococcygeal pain and tenderness should raise concerns about sacral fracture, and a lateral plain X-ray and/or computed tomography of the sacrococcygeal spine should be performed. Neurologic deficit is rare in lower sacral segment fracture; hence, a trial of conservative management (same as for coccygeal fracture) should be tried first. If the patient does not respond and there is displacement, surgical intervention can be used, because it has a very good response from the patient. In the presence of a neurological deficit, however, surgical intervention should be attempted as soon as possible.
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Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with increased risk and adverse outcomes in many clinical settings including cardiovascular disease, stroke, and critically ill patients. Therefore we aimed to determine whether vitamin D deficiency had any effect in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) clinical outcomes. ⋯ A high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency was found among patients admitted with a diagnosis of aSAH in this cohort. Despite this no difference in clinical outcomes was observed in patients when compared by vitamin D group. Further studies are needed to assess potential effects of vitamin D deficiency in this patient population including long term follow-up after discharge.
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Primary lactotroph disinhibition, or stalk effect, occurs when mechanical compression of the pituitary stalk disrupts the tonic inhibition by dopamine released by the hypothalamus. The resolution of pituitary stalk effect-related hyperprolactinemia postoperatively has not been studied in a large cohort of patients. We performed a retrospective review to investigate the time course of recovery of lactotroph disinhibition after transsphenoidal surgery. ⋯ Transsphenoidal surgery can provide durable normalization of serum prolactin levels and related symptoms caused by pituitary stalk compression-related lactotroph disinhibition.
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Case Reports
Endoscopic Transnasal Transclival Resection of Endodermal CYST of the Ventral Brainstem: Case Report.
Endodermal cysts are a rare pathology of the central nervous system located mostly in the upper thoracic or cervical regions. Seldomly, the cysts are found intracranially, most often in the subtentorial area (on the ventral surface of the brainstem, pontocerebellar angle, and fourth ventricle). Traditional approaches to the ventral surface of the brainstem are complicated and traumatic, and they do not provide a good view of the tumor's central and contralateral parts. In this case report, we present an alternative approach for resection of the endodermal cyst on the ventral surface of the brainstem. ⋯ The main advantage of the transclival transnasal approach is the direct access to the clivus and ventral surface of the brainstem without traction of the cerebral structures. If the transsphenoidal transclival approach is used, the cranial nerves are out of the approach area that minimizes the risk to damage it. An extended transsphenoidal transclival endonasal endoscopic approach is an alternative to traditional microsurgical approaches to pathologic processes on the ventral surface of the brainstem (cavernomas, endodermal cysts), located centrally.
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Cytoarchitectural neuroimaging remains critical for diagnosis of many brain diseases. Fluorescent dye-enhanced, near-infrared confocal in situ cellular imaging of the brain has been reported. However, impermeability of the blood-brain barrier to most fluorescent dyes limits clinical utility of this modality. The differential degree of reflectance from brain tissue with unenhanced near-infrared imaging may represent an alternative technique for in situ cytoarchitectural neuroimaging. ⋯ We showed that unenhanced near-infrared reflectance imaging of fresh human cadaver brain can reliably identify and distinguish neurons and detailed cytoarchitecture of the cerebellum and substantia nigra.