World Neurosurg
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Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is one of the most common causes of medically refractory focal epilepsy. Anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) leads to improved seizure control in patients with medically refractory TLE. Various auras are associated with TLE; however, the relationships between aura type and outcome after ATL are poorly understood. Our objective was to investigate the associations among clinical features, aura type, and seizure outcome after ATL. ⋯ Cephalic auras, gustatory auras, and visual auras were associated with worse seizure outcome after ATL.
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To perform an interobserver and intraobserver agreement evaluation of the new AO Spine-DGOU classification system for osteoporotic thoracolumbar fractures (OFc). ⋯ This independent assessment demonstrated that new OFc allows moderate interobserver agreement and fair intraobserver agreement. Further studies are necessary prior to its widespread adoption.
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Patient Reported Outcomes for Lumbar Fusion in Patients with Previously Treated Cervical Myelopathy.
Patients with a history of surgically treated cervical myelopathy and lumbar pathology requiring fusion present complex challenges, and literature describing patient-reported outcomes in this cohort beyond patients with tandem spinal stenosis is sparse. This has led to unclear guidelines in the literature. We present the first dataset comparing patient-reported outcomes for lumbar fusion in patients with isolated lumbar pathology versus patients with a history of surgically treated cervical myelopathy. ⋯ Patients with a history of previously treated cervical myelopathy have a similar rate of clinically relevant improvement after lumbar fusion compared with patients without such history. As such, these patients appear to benefit from lumbar fusion surgery to the same degree as patients without a history of surgically treated cervical myelopathy.
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Regression analysis quantifies the relationships between one or more independent variables and a dependent variable and is one of the most frequently used types of analysis in medical research. The aim of this article is to provide a brief theoretical and practical tutorial for neurosurgeons wishing to conduct or interpret regression analyses. ⋯ Regression analysis is a powerful and versatile instrument in data analysis. This material is intended as a starter for those wishing to critically interpret or perform regression analysis and we recommend multidisciplinary collaborations with trained methodologists, statisticians, or epidemiologists.