Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria
-
Neuropathic pain (NP) is defined as pain caused by lesion or dysfunction of the somatosensory system, as a result of abnormal activation of the nociceptive pathway (small fibers and spinothalamic tracts). The most common causes of this syndrome are the following: diabetes, post-herpetic neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia, stroke, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, HIV infection, cancer. In the last few years, the NP has been receiving special attention for two main reasons: (1) therapeutical refractoriness of a variety of pain syndromes with predominant neuropathic characteristics and (2) the development of diagnostic tools for neuropathic pain complaints. The present review article provides relevant information on the understanding and recognition of NP, as well as evidence-based therapeutic approaches.
-
Comparative Study
Cerebral biopsy: comparison between frame-based stereotaxy and neuronavigation in an oncology center.
Treatment of intracranial tumoral lesions is related to its correct histological diagnostic. We present a retrospective analysis of 32 patients submitted to 36 cerebral biopsies using neuronavigation and 44 patients using frame-based stereotaxy. Mean age was 46.6 and 49.3 years old respectively. ⋯ There was one death related to the procedure in each group. Astrocytomas and metastatic adenocarcinomas were the most frequent diagnosis. Diagnostic yielding and the number of postoperative hemorrhage and death were similar on both groups and the same found in the literature.