No shinkei geka. Neurological surgery
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We studied the feasibility of intrathecal nicardipine administration using a portable infusion pump system in five cases (two males and three females) of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). All of the five cases manifested severe SAH of Hunt & Kosnic grade 3 or 4, and Fisher CT group 3. Aneurysmal sites of five cases were as follows: three internal carotid-posterior communicating artery (IC-PC) aneurysms and two anterior communicating artery (Acom) aneurysms. ⋯ All of the five cases had obtained good recovery at three months after the operation. These results show that, although this method involves a risk of infection, it has the advantage of easiness and convenience over conventional methods. Though further improvement of this method is required, this preliminary stage is potentially useful for delivering not only nicardipine, but also for other drugs which may be used in intrathecal administration therapy.
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Case Reports
[Common carotid artery dissection propagated from acute aortic dissection: a case successfully treated by PTA].
We reported a rare case, which was successfully treated by PTA, of right common carotid artery dissection propagated from acute aortic dissection (AAD) type A. A 45-year-old male with a past history of hypertension and an artificial graft replacement of the abdominal aorta due to AAD type B, 7 years ago, was brought into our hospital by ambulance 30 minutes after an attack of fainting and left hemiparesis. On admission, the patient complained not of chest pain or left hemiparesis, but nausea. ⋯ The patient recovered without neurological deficit but right frontal silent embolic infarction caused by the artificial graft replacement was detected. AAD is a catastrophic illness and sometimes accompanied by devastating ischemic cerebral disease (ICD) because of propagation of dissecting to extracranial vessels. This is the first report that shows the efficacy of PTA for treatment of ICD associated with AAD.
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Therapeutic hypothermia may improve outcome after severe head injury, but its efficacy has not been established in children with a severe head injury. The authors evaluated the effects of hypothemia (33-34 degrees C) in 9 severely closed head-injured children (under 16 years old). The cooling period was 3 to 21 days (mean 9.3). ⋯ From 3 to 6 months after injury, 6 (67%) of the 9 patients had good outcome (good recovery in 2 and moderate disability in 4), but 3 (33%) had poor outcome (severe disability in 2 and vegetative state in one). Complications, including infectious disorders (pneumonia, meningitis, sepsis), cardio-vascular system dysfunction (cardiac arrhythmia, hypotension), decreased platelet counts, hypokalemia, diabetes insipidus, acute pancreatitis occurred during hypothermia in 7 patients (78%). The results of this study suggest that treatment with hypothermia in children with severe head injury is often accompanied complications, but it is an effective method to control intracranial hypertension and may have improved the outcome.
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Review Case Reports
[Superselective fibrinolysis for a middle cerebral artery embolism caused by a left atrial myxoma: case report].
A case of successful treatment by local fibrinolysis of a middle cerebral artery embolism caused by a thrombus from a left atrial myxoma is reported. A 62-year-old woman using a pacemaker and suffering from sick sinus syndrome was admitted on December 29th 1996, complaining of transient restlessness. CT and cerebral angiography revealed no abnormal vascular lesions. ⋯ It is also hard to discover during emergent cerebral angiography with fibrinolytic therapy. Therefore, in the case of patients with cerebral embolism for which local fibrinolysis is ineffective, it should be presumed that cardiac myxoma is the source of the embolus. Direct PTA alone may be effective for such tumoral embolism.
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We described our experience of three cases treated with endoscopic evacuation of intraventricular hematoma and third ventriculostomy for a tight intraventricular hematoma associated with intracerebral hemorrhage. A steerable endoscope was introduced into the anterior horn of the lateral ventricle contralaterally to the intracerebral hemorrhage, through a 14 Fr. peel-away sheath. First, the hematoma in the lateral ventricle contralateral to the hemorrhage was evacuated by direct aspiration using a syringe connected to the operative channel of the endoscope, and evacuation of the hematoma was subsequently carried on the third ventricle, aqueduct and the fourth ventricle. ⋯ Finally, the procedure was completed with septostomy and evacuation of the hematoma in the lateral ventricle ipsilateral to the hemorrhage. Sufficient evacuation of the hematoma was obtained in all cases and no major complications were encountered. We conclude that for patients with intraventricular hematoma associated with intracerebral hemorrhage endoscopic evacuation of intraventricular hematoma brings about sufficient removal of hematoma, reduction of hospitalization time and prevention of subsequent hydrocephalus.