World Neurosurg
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To evaluate safety and effectiveness of the novel polymethyl methacrylate-augmented bone cement-injectable cannulated pedicle screw (CICPS) in patients with thoracolumbar vertebral compression fractures (AO type A) associated with osteoporosis. ⋯ The use of CICPS and polymethyl methacrylate is an effective and safe surgical technique for management of osteoporosis-related vertebral fractures (AO type A), with good clinical outcomes and low complications rates.
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Microcatheter entrapment during embolization of brain arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) represents a potentially harmful technical complication. Although several techniques have been reported for endovascular catheter retrieval from an Onyx cast, such methods have never been demonstrated with acrylic glues. We report a case of removal of a glued microcatheter from an N-butyl cyanoacrylate (NBCA) cast using a microsnare. ⋯ Although it is not recommended as routine practice, snaring a glued microcatheter is feasible and can be used in selected cases as a last resort if thromboembolic complications are feared.
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Top performing neurosurgeons and elite athletes require years of sacrifice, discipline, and dedication to their art to be finely attuned to their physical abilities and limitations, and a singular mental focus to reach their full potential under moments of pressure. ⋯ Maintaining peak performance for a neurosurgeon may prove to be more challenging than that of the elite athlete.
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Successful endovascular management of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) requires timely access to substantial resources. Prior studies suggest an association between time to treatment and patient outcome. Patients treated at safety-net hospitals are thought to be particularly vulnerable to disparities in access to interventions that require substantial technologic resources. We hypothesized that patients with aSAH treated at safety-net hospitals are at greater risk for delayed access to endovascular treatment. ⋯ After controlling for patient and hospital factors, individuals with aSAH treated at safety-net hospitals from 2002 to 2011 were more likely to have a delay to endovascular coil embolization than individuals treated at non-safety-net hospitals. This disparity could affect patient outcomes.
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Both the pterygopalatine fossa (PPF) and the infratemporal fossa (ITF) lie outside the midline of the skull base. Lesions in the PPF or ITF include trigeminal schwannoma (trigeminal schwannoma, TS), which originates from the second or third branch of the trigeminal nerve (maxillary nerve or mandibular nerve). Due to their typically deep anatomic location, lesions in the PPF or ITF can be difficult to treat using traditional surgical approaches. In recent years, because of their advantages, which include the fact that they allow the problem to be observed close up, neuroendoscopic techniques are increasingly being applied in skull base surgery, especially in treatment of lesions around the midline of the base of the skull. This study aims to 1) evaluate the neuroendoscopic treatment of lesions in PPF or ITF via the transnasal palate bone perpendicular plate or transnasal maxillary sinus approach and 2) analyze the clinical significance of this approach. ⋯ Neuroendoscopic surgery performed via the transnasal perpendicular plate palatine bone or transnasal maxillary sinus approach has its own unique advantages in removing TSs in PPF and in ITF: Notably, the tumor can be exposed and dealt with under direct vision, which prevents damage to important structures, such as the internal carotid and maxillary nerves, while at the same time helping to achieve total removal of TSs. Furthermore, by adopting this approach versus traditional skull base surgery, postoperative trauma can be reduced significantly, which should be advocated for in this time of minimal invasive surgery.