World Neurosurg
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Review
Filum Terminale: A Comprehensive Review with Anatomical, Pathological, and Surgical Considerations.
The conus medullaris is the distal tapering end of the spinal cord, and the filum terminale (FT) is regarded as a bundle of nonfunctional fibrous tissue; therefore, some scholars call it the spinal ligament, while others describe the human FT as "remnants of the spinal cord." It was later found that in the human spinal cord, the FT is composed of an intradural segment and an epidural segment, and the end of the FT is connected to the coccyx periosteum. Because some nerve tissue is also found in the FT, as research progresses, FT may have the potential for transplantation. A lack of exhaustive overviews on the FT in the present literature prompted us to conduct this review. Considering that a current comprehensive review seemed to be the need of the hour, herein, we attempted to summarize previous research and theories on the FT, elucidate its anatomy, and understand its pathological involvement in various diseases.
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William Edward Hunt (1921-1999) and Robert McDonald Hess Jr. (1931-2019) were pioneers in revolutionizing the early surgical management of ruptured intracranial aneurysms. Early on in his career as a professor of neurosurgery at Ohio State University, Dr. Hunt adopted a systematic method to identify clinical symptoms of patients presenting with subarachnoid hemorrhage as candidates for either immediate or delayed surgery. ⋯ Hunt was widely regarded internationally as an expert in the field of treating intracranial aneurysms, eventually serving as a World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) committee member to also publish a universal subarachnoid hemorrhage grading scale. To pay tribute to Drs. Hunt and Hess for their substantial contributions, we present historical vignettes of their lives along with highlighting the role of the Hunt-Hess classification system in transforming management of ruptured aneurysms.
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Neurosurgery-specific research plays a critical role in improving outcomes in patients with neurosurgical diseases. Despite the high burden of neurosurgical diseases in Ethiopia, little is known about types of neurosurgical research from Ethiopia. The goal of this scoping review is to assess the quantity and types of neurosurgical research published in peer-reviewed journals by authors from Ethiopia. ⋯ Neurosurgery research from Ethiopia is lacking, despite its high disease burden. Case reports/series and cohort studies remain the mainstay, with few systematic reviews and no randomized controlled trial. International collaboration accounts for approximately half of Ethiopian neurosurgery research output. Further research support and infrastructure should be developed to encourage neurosurgery articles from Ethiopia.
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Review Case Reports
Cerebral Proliferative Angiopathy Presenting as Subdural Hematoma: A Case Report and Systematic Literature Review.
Cerebral proliferative angiopathy (CPA) is a rare cerebrovascular pathology that presents with unique clinical features due to distinct histologic, angiographic, and pathophysiologic characteristics that separate it from classical arteriovenous malformation. The disorder is characterized by uncontrolled angiogenesis in which functional brain parenchyma is interspersed with abnormal vascular channels without a distinct nidus. Common presenting symptoms include headache, seizures, and stroke-like symptoms. ⋯ Here, we report a young woman with a history of a suspected connective tissue disorder who presented to the emergency department with worsening headaches in a delayed fashion after experiencing minor head trauma and was found to have a left-sided subdural hematoma. Angiography confirmed a diagnosis of CPA after abnormal cortical vasculature was noted during the patient's craniotomy. A systematic review of CPA cases described in the literature was performed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, with the findings discussed.
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Cervical schwannomas may be common in patients with cervicobrachialgia. We report a case of an apparent C8 schwannoma in a 55-year-old female that was discovered to be an inflammatory enlarged cervical ganglion. Such a rare presentation may be explained by the particular conformation of the left C7-Th1 neuroforamen, compressed by an ectopic cranially located first rib head, which was visible only with a cervical computed tomography scan. No similar finding is reported in the literature, and this interesting case may provide new insight into the differential diagnosis of cervical spinal lesions.