World Neurosurg
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Hydrocephalus in sub-Saharan Africa, including Mozambique, is still a significant health care problem. ⋯ Efforts to improve prevention, early diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up are of utmost importance in Mozambique.
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To describe 1 center's experience using carotid artery stenting (CAS) or carotid endarterectomy (CEA) as a treatment strategy in patients with bilateral carotid artery stenosis. ⋯ Good outcomes can be achieved in patients with bilateral carotid artery stenosis when treatment selection is based on each individual patient's clinical characteristics and with a proper combination of staged CEA and CAS.
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Seizures are relatively common in patients harboring cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). Because the pathogenesis of AVM-associated epilepsy is not well-defined, we aim to determine the factors associated with seizure presentation in AVM patients. ⋯ Large, unruptured, cortical nidi are most prone to seizure presentation in patients referred for radiosurgery. Further investigations of the molecular biology, neuronal and glial physiology, and natural history of AVM-associated epilepsy appear warranted.
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Primary intradural extramedullary ependymomas are very rare tumors and have never been described in children. ⋯ Although a rare entity, intradural extramedullary ependymomas should be included in the differential diagnosis of intradural extramedullary lesions in children. Surgical treatment seems to play a pivotal role in the prognosis of these rare tumors, with a possible role for adjunctive radiotherapy in the case of recurrence, anaplastic transformation, and metastasis.
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The publication of the COSS (Carotid Occlusion Surgery Study) trial in 2011 concluded that the addition of external carotid to internal carotid (EC-IC) bypass to a medical regimen "did not reduce the risk of ipsilateral ischemic stroke at 2 years" for patients with symptomatic internal carotid artery occlusion. This has resulted in decreasing referrals for surgical management under the guise of "evidence-based" medicine. The conclusions drawn from a study can only be as good as the selected end points. COSS did not consider important end points such as the effects of long-term cerebral ischemia or recurrent debilitating transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). However, the study is often quoted as "proof" that EC-IC bypass has no role in the treatment of these patients. ⋯ The public perception of the results of large randomized clinical trials is significantly altered by their ubiquitous dissemination and broad generalization without adequate understanding of the details. Careful assessment of the methodology and end points of a trial are essential when applying the results for evidence-based medicine to individual patients. This patient would have been considered a medical "success" in COSS, but her outcome with surgical intervention will never be known.