Neurosurgery

Explaining the cerebral aneurysm's shape and timing of rupture – Unlocking the mystique using theoretical physics Ahmed Ansari, Yoko Kato Asian Journal of Neurosurgery 2020 15(4):799-799

Current role of laser interstitial thermal therapy in the treatment of intracranial tumors Farhan A Mirza, Rida Mitha, Muhammad Shahzad Shamim Asian Journal of Neurosurgery 2020 15(4):800-808 Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) is gaining popularity in the treatment of both primary and secondary intracranial tumors. The goal of LITT is to deliver thermal energy in a predictable, controlled, and minimally invasive fashion. It can be particularly valuable in patients with recurrent tumors who, due to previous radiation or surgery, may have a potentially higher risk of wound breakdown or infection with repeat craniotomy. Deep-seated lesions that are often inaccessible through open approaches (thalamus, hypothalamus, mesial basal temporal lobe, brainstem) may also be suitable targets. The experience and data published thus far on this modality is limited but growing. This review highlights the use of LITT as a primary treatment method in a variety of intracranial tumors, as well as its application as an adjunct to established surgical techniques.

Management of mild brain trauma in the elderly: Literature review Federica Marrone, Luca Zavatto, Mario Allevi, Hambra Di Vitantonio, Daniele Francesco Millimaggi, Soheila Raysi Dehcordi, Alessandro Ricci, Graziano Taddei Asian Journal of Neurosurgery 2020 15(4):809-820 Purpose: The world population is aging. As direct consequence, geriatric trauma is increasing both in absolute number and in the proportion of annual admissions causing a challenge for the health-care system worldwide. The aim of this review is to delineate the specific and practice rules for the management of mild brain trauma in the elderly. Methods: Systematic review of the last 15 years literature on mild traumatic brain injury (nTBI) in elderly patients. Results: A total of 68 articles met all eligibility criteria and were selected for the systematic review. We collected 29% high-quality studies and 71% low-quality studies. Conclusion: Clinical advices for a comprehensive management are provided. Current outcome data from mTBIs in the elderly show a condition that cannot be sustained in the future by families, society, and health-care systems. There is a strong need for more research on geriatric mild brain trauma addressed to prevent falls, to reduce the impact of polypharmacy, and to define specific management strategies.

Stent-assisted coiling of unruptured intracranial aneurysms with wide neck Filippos Papadopoulos, Constantine Nikolaos Antonopoulos, George Geroulakos Asian Journal of Neurosurgery 2020 15(4):821-827 Objective: Morbidity and mortality in patients experiencing the rupture of intracranial aneurysm ruptures are high. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the role of stent-assisted coiling (SAC) for unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) with wide neck. Materials and Methods: The current meta-analysis was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Pooled proportions with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of ten outcomes of interest were calculated. Results: We finally reviewed 13 studies, including 976 patients. The technical success of the method was 98.43% (95% CI: 95.62–99.95). Early outcomes included total periprocedural obliteration with a rate of 50.20% (95% CI: 36.09–64.30) and periprocedural rupture with zero rate. During the follow-up period, ranging from 6 months to 2 years, the total postprocedural obliteration rate was 63.83% (95% CI: 45.80–80.18) and the overall late rupture rate was 0.41% (95% CI: 0.00–2.38). The pooled in-stent stenosis rate was calculated at 1.24% (95% CI: 0.02–3.63). We also estimated a pooled rate of 0.02% (95% CI: 0.00–0.51) and 4.33% (95% CI: 2.03–7.23) for total mortality and overall neurological complications, respectively. A pooled rate of 3.94% (95% CI: 1.48–7.33) was found for stroke. Finally, the recanalization rate was recorded at 7.07% (95% CI: 4.35–10.26). Conclusions: SAC of UIAs with wide neck seems to be a safe and acceptable alternative to surgical clipping. Although early results concerning total periprocedural obliteration may be modest, follow-up outcomes may be indicative of adequate occlusion of treated UIAs.

Women in Neurosurgery (WIN): Barriers to progress, world WIN directory and the way forward Sneha Chitra Balasubramanian, Dhivya Palanisamy, Souad Bakhti, Najia El Abbadi, Nelci Zanon Collange, Claire Karekezi, Boon Seng Liew, Yoko Kato Asian Journal of Neurosurgery 2020 15(4):828-832 Women in Neurosurgery (WIN) have come a long way and are making inroads in every neurosurgical subspecialty. There has been a worldwide increase in the number of female neurosurgeons both in the training and practice. Although this is a welcome trend, gender equality at work in terms of opportunities, promotions, and pay scales are yet to be attained. This is more apparent in the developing and underdeveloped nations. Barriers for a female neurosurgeon exist in every phase before entering residency, during training, and at workplace. In the neurosurgical specialty, only a few women are in chief academic and leadership positions, and this situation needs to improve. WIN should be motivated to pursue fellowships, sub-specialty training, research, and academic activities. Furthermore, men should come forward to mentor women, only then the gender debates will disappear and true excellence in neurosurgery can be attained. This article reviews the issues that are relevant in the present era focusing on the barriers faced by female neurosurgeons in the developing and underdeveloped countries and the possible solutions to achieve gender equality in neurosurgery. The authors also present the data from the World WIN Directory collected as a part of Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons-WINS project 2019. These numbers are expected to grow as the WIN progress and add value to the neurosurgical community at large.

Endoscopic microvascular decompression for hemifacial spasm Maruf Matmusaev, R Senthil Kumar, Yasuhiro Yamada, Tetsuya Nagatani, Tsukasa Kawase, Riki Tanaka, Miyatani Kyosuke, Yoko Kato Asian Journal of Neurosurgery 2020 15(4):833-838 Introduction and Objective: Hemifacial spasm (HFS) is a condition, characterized by painless, involuntary unilateral tonic or clonic contractions of the facial muscles innervated by the ipsilateral facial nerve. HFS starts with contractions in the orbicularis oculi muscle with subsequent eyelid closure and/or eyebrow elevation, but may spread to involve muscles of the frontalis, platysma, and orbicularis oris muscles. Microvascular decompression (MVD) is reliable and accepted surgical treatment for HFS. MVD is the standard surgical technique now for HFS treatment with long-term success rates. Materials and Methods: We performed fully endoscopic MVD technique for 1 patient with HFS (a 83-year-old female) at our institution. HFS was diagnosed based on the clinical history and presentation, a neurologic examination, and additional imaging findings. Respectively, the durations of HFS were 3 years, respectively. The patient had been previously treated with repeated botulinum toxin injections. Preoperative evaluation was done with magnetic resonance imaging; three-dimensional computed tomography fusion images examinations had identified the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) as the offending vessel in this patient. Results: The patient with HFS was treated by fully endoscopic MVD technique. The AICA, which had been identified as the offending vessel by preoperative magnetic resonance imaging, was successfully decompressed. No surgery-related complications occurred and had excellent outcomes with the complete resolution of HFS immediately after the operation. Conclusions: Endoscopic surgery can provide a more panoramic surgical view than conventional microscopic surgery. Fully endoscopic MVD is both safe and effective in the treatment of HFS. This method minimizes the risks of brain retraction and extensive dissection often required for microscopic exposure. Endoscopic MVD is safe and has advantage over microscope in terms of visualization of structure, identification of neurovascular conflict, but it has a learning curve and technically challenging.

Modified transclavicular-transmanubrial approach to cervicothoracic spine: Revisiting and Renovating the Path – Lessons learned TS Vasan, Raghavendra M Rao Asian Journal of Neurosurgery 2020 15(4):839-845 Introduction: A thorough knowledge of the vital structures adds to the safety in approaching the cervicothoracic spine junction. The best described method to reach the spine is via viscero-neurovascular space. We present our experience of 10 cases operated at our institute using the modified transclavicular transmanubrial approach to the cervicothoracic spine pathology.As we gained experience we have used various corridors to the operating field and used a new space to approach the lower cervicothoracic junction spine. Methods: Between February 2011 to August 2015, 10 patients with disease in upper thoracic vertebral body were admitted and evaluated clinically and radiologically. Neurological status in all cases was graded according to Frankel grading system.Patients were followed up with Histopathological reports and treated accordingly. Results: All patients(except metastasis) improved by 1 or 2 grade in post op period. Metastasis patients remained in same grade. Conclusion: Anterior approach with its modifications are the better suited biomechanically for exploring the pathology of cervicothoracic spine,its decompression and stabilization. Also it preserves the stability of shoulder girdle with good neurological and cosmetic outcome.

Endoscopic transcortical transventricular management of cystic craniopharyngioma: Outcome analysis of 32 cases at a tertiary care center Somil Jaiswal, Manish Jaiswal, Pooja Jaiswal, Ankur Bajaj, Chhitij Srivastava, Anil Chandra, Bal Krishna Ojha, Janu Vikas, Awadhesh Yadav Asian Journal of Neurosurgery 2020 15(4):846-855 Background: Microsurgical resection has been considered the gold standard treatment of craniopharyngioma, but lately, it has found less favor due to its morbidity and is being replaced by minimally invasive cyst drainage procedures. We present our experience of transventricular endoscopy and cyst drainage along with its technique and have analyzed its results. Materials and Methods: Clinical and radiological data of all cystic craniopharyngioma patients treated by transventricular endoscopic cyst drainage and Ommaya placement were retrieved and analyzed Results: Thirty-two patients underwent endoscopic cyst drainage during the study period. All patients had immediate clinical and radiological improvement. No significant complications were seen. All patients underwent adjuvant radiotherapy and six patients (18.7%) showed recurrence. Three patients died in the follow-up period. Conclusions: Endoscopic transcortical transventricular cyst drainage with Ommaya reservoir along with adjuvant radiotherapy is a simple, safe, and effective treatment modality.

Clinico-radiological outcome of single-level and hybrid total disc replacement with spineart Baguera®-C for cervical myeloradiculopathy: Minimum 2-year follow-up study in Indian population Jeevan Kumar Sharma, Tarush Rustagi, Nandan Marathe, Abhinandan Reddy Mallepally, Rajat Mahajan, Harvinder Singh Chhabra, Kalidutta Das Asian Journal of Neurosurgery 2020 15(4):856-862 Context: Cervical radiculopathy and myelopathy is one of the most frequent ailments encountered by spine surgeon. Motion-preserving surgeries in cervical spine is a standard of care due to its certain advantages such as biomechanical anatomical conformity, reduced chances of adjacent segment degeneration, and revision surgeries. While there is abundant data from some centers, data from developing countries are still limited. Aims: The aim was to study the clinico-radiological outcome of single-level and hybrid total disc replacement (TDR) with Spineart Baguera®-C cervical prosthesis for cervical myeloradiculopathy. Settings and Design: Retrospective study. Materials and Methods: Retrospective analysis of the 29 consecutive patient undergoing single level TDR and hybrid fixation (i.e., TDR with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion) with Spineart Baguera®-C cervical prosthesis for myeloradiculopathy from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2017, was done. Radiological features and outcome were studied from data collected on Insta-picture archiving and communication system. Statistical Analysis Used: SAS 9.4 was used for all computations. Results on continuous measurements were presented as mean and standard deviation (min-max) and results on categorical measurements were presented as numbers (n) and percentages. Results: Twenty-nine patients were included in the study. The mean age was 43.31 ± 9.04 years with 14 males and 15 females. The most common level of TDR was C5-C6 (72.41%). The mean follow-up duration was 3.14 years ± 1.13 years (2–5 years). The mean hospital stay was 4.93 ± 2.12 days. The mean neck disability index (NDI) at admission was 27.24 ± 7.66 which decreased to 6.41 ± 4.29 at final follow-up. Conclusions: Two-year data on treatment with Spineart Baguera®-C cervical prosthesis shows significantly improved NDI, visual analog scale (arm) with maintenance of movement of the prosthesis.

High-flow bypass with radial artery graft for cavernous carotid aneurysms: A case series Riki Tanaka, Boon Seng Liew, Kento Sasaki, Kyosuke Miyatani, Tsukasa Kawase, Yasuhiro Yamada, Yoko Kato, Akihiko Horiguchi Asian Journal of Neurosurgery 2020 15(4):863-869 Background: The incidence of cavernous carotid aneurysms (CCAs) of intracranial aneurysms is low. Majority of cases presented as incidental findings with benign natural progression. The most common presenting symptoms are multiple cranial neuropathies among symptomatic patients. The treatment modalities for symptomatic patients include direct surgical clipping, endovascular coil embolization, or placement of flow diverter, or indirect procedures such as occlusion of parent artery with and without revascularization techniques. The advancement in the microsurgical treatments and endovascular devices have enable a high success rate in the treatment of patients with CCAs with low morbidity and mortality rates. Objective: To study the surgical outcomes of patients with cavernous aneurysm who underwent high-flow bypass between 2015 and 2020 in our institution. Materials and Methods: A total of six patients in a single institution presented with CCAs who were treated with high-flow bypass surgery were included in this case-series. A single-case illustration was presented focusing on the details of surgical case management of CCA. The intraoperative middle cerebral artery (MCA) pressure monitoring during bypass surgery was also described. Results: All five female patients and one male patient who were diagnosed with cavernous carotid aneurysms were studied. The mean age was 68.8 years old (range: 24-84 years old) and the mean size of the aneurysm was 19.6mm (range: 9.7 – 30mm). There were successfully treated with high flow bypasses using radial artery graft without any neurological sequelae. Conclusion: The surgical treatments of cavernous carotid aneurysms should be limited to experienced neurosurgeons in view of significant risk of morbidity and mortality. Endovascular procedures may be the main stay of treatments. The success shown in this case series with parent artery occlusion and bypass surgery may provide an safe alternative to the endovascular treatment.

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