World Neurosurg
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The objective of this study was to assess the independent effect of complications on 30-day mortality in 32,695 patients undergoing elective craniotomy. ⋯ Of 13 complications analyzed, myocardial infarction, unplanned intubation, prolonged ventilator requirement, stroke, and renal failure showed the strongest association with mortality independent of preoperative risk, independent of other complications, and across all risk-stratified subgroups. These findings help identify causes of perioperative mortality after elective craniotomy. Dedicating additional resources toward preventing and treating these complications postoperatively may help reduce rates of failure-to-rescue in the neurosurgical population.
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We sought to study the application of precise intraoperative localization of small intramedullary spinal cord tumors. ⋯ The application of the multimodal image fusion combined with intraoperative O-arm image navigation system can be used to localize small intramedullary tumors.
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Pineoblastomas are rare, malignant embryonal tumors that have a relatively higher incidence and a poorer prognosis in children. Owing to the rarity of these tumors, there is a paucity of data on associated prognostic factors. We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to evaluate prognostic factors for pineoblastomas with the aim of improving tumor management. ⋯ Our results show that the impact of tumor extension is not defined. OS is better in older children treated by radiotherapy, and gross total resection also appears to result in increased survival. A nomogram was built to predict 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS for these patients.
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Expansile duraplasty is frequently performed during Chiari I decompression. Aseptic and bacterial meningitis are possible complications of this procedure. We sought to compare the rates of meningitis and subsequent need for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) diversion with duraplasty using bovine pericardial (BPC) xenograft and allograft. ⋯ We found that rates of total meningitis were greater in patients who underwent Chiari I decompression and duraplasty with BPC compared with an allograft. The rate of shunting was significantly higher for patients who developed meningitis after decompression compared with patients without meningitis.
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Induced hypernatremia is frequently used to reduce intracranial pressure in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). This technique is controversial, and some studies have independently associated hypernatremia with worse outcomes after TBI. We sought to investigate this potential association in a large healthcare database. ⋯ Hypernatremia was associated with poorer outcomes in patients with severe TBI. This finding warrants further investigation in a prospective, randomized study.