Journal of neurosurgical sciences最新文献

Background: This paper reports the results of the treatment of our first 200 cases of lumbar disc herniation and foraminal stenosis using full-endoscopic transforaminal lumbar discectomy (FETLD). We analyzed outcomes and radiological parameters to overcome failure and inappropriate indications and also highlighted the red flags for surgeons coming to this field as well as the pathways to success.

Methods: Data on endoscopic procedures were retrospectively analyzed between October 2018 and March 2023. We abstracted sex, age, leg pain by NPRS, postoperative satisfaction according to the MacNaab score, postoperative surgical complications/adverse events (≤30 days), and history of any previous surgery. Furthermore, we measured different radiological parameters to determine the grade of stenosis or discopathy.

Results: Once the learning curve was completed, patients' satisfaction increased to 94%, with only a small percentage (6%) of patients unsatisfied 30 days after the operation. Perioperatively, 33.5% of the patients experienced mild to moderate transitory paresthesia. Univariate analysis showed a tendency toward a higher risk of failure in those patients with degenerative listhesis (odds ratio [OR] 4.8, 95% CI 0.97-23.9, P=0.055) as well as those with severely degenerated discs (OR 8.7, 95% CI 0.96-79.4, P=0.054). Conversely, the chances of failure seemed to be lower in patients with severe foraminal stenosis.

Conclusions: FETLD proved its efficacy in treating several degenerative spine conditions or was useful for avoiding previous scarring in patients already operated on to the same extent. Therefore, FETLD can be safely used in patients with comorbidities, the elderly, and when the invasiveness of an open technique is not suitable.

Background: The aim of this paper was to understand the role of prophylaxis with levetiracetam at skin incision in preventing convulsive intraoperative seizures (IOS) during neurosurgical procedures with and without intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM).

Methods: Authors retrospectively reviewed the Institutional database for cases of supratentorial brain tumors undergoing surgical resection performed from January 2021 to October 2022. Patients were operated on both under general anesthesia and awake, using motor-evoked potentials (MEP) and direct cortical stimulation for cortical mapping. 1000 mg ev of Levetiracetam before skin incision in case of a history of seizures was administrated. We excluded all infratentorial cases.

Results: Three hundred fisty three consecutive cases were retrieved. IOS occurred in 22 patients (6.2%). Prophylaxis with Levetiracetam was administered in 149 patients, and IOS occurred in 16 cases (10.7%) in this group of patients. The IOS rate in the case of no Levetiracetam prophylaxis administration (3.5%) was significantly lower (P<0.001, OR=3.38 [1.35-8.45], RR=3.12 [1.32-7.41]). The Penfield technique stimulation evoked seven of all 22 IOS reported (31.8%) (P=0.006, RR 5.4 [1.44 -20.58], OR 21 [2.3-183.9]), and the train-of-five technique stimulation caused two of all registered IOS (8.7%) (P=0.2, RR 2.3 [0.99-5.67], OR 6.5 [0.55-76.17]). Transcranial MEPs evoked no IOS.

Conclusions: Under levetiracetam prophylaxis, the IOS rate was not significantly lower than in the group of patients without Levetiracetam prophylaxis, regardless of the histology of the tumor and IONM. Neither the transcranial stimulation (MEP) nor train-of-five technique stimulation increases the risk of convulsive IOS, as Penfield technique stimulation does.

Background: Cerebral metastasis (CM) is the most common malignancy affecting the brain. Individualized treatment of CM still represents a challenge for neuro-oncological teams: in patient eligible for surgery, complete tumor removal is the most relevant predictor of overall survival (OS) and neurological outcome. The development of surgical microscopes harboring specific filter able to elicit the fluorescent response from sodium fluorescein (SF) has facilitated fluorescein-guided microsurgery and the identification of pathological tumor tissue, especially at the tumor margins. In this study, we analyzed the effect of SF on the visualization and resection of a large monoinstitutional cohort of CM.

Methods: Surgical database of FLUOCERTUM study (Besta Institute, Milan, Italy) was retrospectively reviewed to find CM surgically removed with a fluorescein-guided technique from March 2016 to December 2022. SF was intravenously injected (5 mg/kg) immediately after induction of general anesthesia. Tumors were removed using a microsurgical technique with the YELLOW560 filter (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Oberkochen, Germany). In the most recent cases, biopsies at the tumor margins were performed to evaluate the ability of fluorescein to discriminate between fluorescent and nonfluorescent tissue at the lesion borders.

Results: Seventy-nine patients were included; most of them showed a bright, diffuse fluorescent staining that markedly enhanced tumor visibility; 11 melanomas presented a specific faint enhancement of the black pigmented central nodule with high fluorescence at tumor boundaries. Only in a minimal percentage of cases (N.=4-5.1%), fluorescein enhancement was tenuous, thus not providing a significant help during tumor resection. Altogether, in more than 90% of cases, SF was considered useful in the identification of tumoral tissue and in achieving a high rate of CM resection; thus, gross total resection was achieved in 96.2% (N.=76) of patients and in no case the detection of tumor remnants was an unexpected event. The resulted sensitivity and specificity of fluorescein in identifying tumor tissue at the tumor margin was 88.9% with a predictive positive value of 88.9%. No adverse event was registered during the postoperative course.

Conclusions: The use of SF is a valuable method for safe fluorescence-guided tumor resection. Our data showed a positive effect of fluorescein-guided surgery on intraoperative visualization during resection of CM, suggesting a role in improving the extent of resection of these lesions.

The paper entitled " Transforming neurosurgical practice with large language models: comparative performance of ChatGPT-omni and Gemini in complex case management" by Bariş Çöllüoğlu et al., which was published online on June 5, 2025, is being retracted. The publisher retracts this article because, after online publication, it was discovered that the authors had submitted the manuscript to another journal simultaneously, resulting in duplicate publication

Background: We have previously shown the usefulness of a new confocal endomicroscopy system (CONVIVO^®) in providing a quick and reliable method for intraoperative diagnosis ex vivo in glioblastoma (GBM). In this study, we aimed to assess the intraoperative usefulness of CONVIVO^® in an in-vivo setting, focusing on its capability to explore the presence of residual tumor at the resection margins of Central Nervous System (CNS) tumors.

Methods: We consecutively enrolled patients submitted to fluorescein-guided CNS-tumor removal (May 2020 to December 2022). CONVIVO^® was used in vivo to obtain images from virtual biopsies at the central tumor core and at its margin of resection, evaluating its ability to offer a histological diagnosis at the center and a tumor tissue identification at the periphery, with respect to corresponding standard histological sections. CONVIVO^® images were analyzed before interpretation of permanent or frozen sections, with the pathologist being totally blinded to histological results.

Results: Seventy-five patients were studied. The most frequent diagnoses were GBM (50.6%) and metastasis (13.3%). At the tumor margins, on a total of 169 biopsies, we obtained an overall accuracy in tumor tissue identification of 82.2% (95% CI 75.0-89.5) in GBM/Grade 4 IDH-mutated astrocytomas, and 85.8% (95% CI 80.5-91.1) considering all tumors together. At the tumor center, a correct intraoperative diagnosis was obtained in 67.6% (95% CI 56.9-78.2) of all the cases, and in 80.9% (95% CI 69.1-92.8) of the GBM/Grade 4 IDH-mutated astrocytoma subgroup.

Conclusions: CONVIVO^® allowed to accurately assess the presence of pathological marginal tissue remnants during resection of aggressive CNS tumors. More studies are needed to evaluate if this could possibly improve the extent of resection.

Background: This study aimed to determine whether the presence of distinct glioma margins on preoperative imaging is correlated with improved intraoperative identification of tumor-brain interfaces and overall improved surgical outcomes of non-enhancing gliomas.

Methods: This is a retrospective study of all primary glioma resections at our institution between 2000-2020. Tumors with contrast enhancement or with final pathology other than diffuse infiltrative glial neoplasm (WHO II or WHO III) were excluded. Tumors were stratified into two groups: those with distinct radiographical borders between tumor and brain, and those with ill-defined radiographical margins. Multivariate analysis was performed to determine the impact of clear preoperative margins on the primary outcome of gross-total resection.

Results: Within the study period, 59 patients met inclusion criteria, of which 31 (53%) had distinct margins. These patients were predominantly younger (37.6 vs. 48.1 years, P=0.007). Tumor and other patient characteristics were similar in both cohorts, including gender, laterality, size, location, tumor type, grade, and surgical adjuncts utilized (P>0.05). Multivariate regression identified that distinct preoperative margins correlated with increased rates of gross total resection (P=0.02). Distinct margins on preoperative neuroimaging also correlated positively with surgeon identification of intra-operative margins (P<0.0001), fewer deaths over the study period (P=0.01), and longer overall survival (P=0.03).

Conclusions: Distinct glioma-parenchyma margins on preoperative imaging are associated with improved surgical resection for diffuse gliomas, as distinct margins may correlate with distinguishable glioma-brain interfaces intraoperatively. Further prospective studies may discover additional clinical uses for these findings.

Background: Acute traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI) requires rapid surgical intervention to maximize neurological function. Older patients comprise an increasingly larger proportion of SCI patients annually, necessitating accurate preoperative risk stratification tools. This study utilized a frailty-based preoperative risk stratification score to predict adverse events following non-elective neurosurgical intervention for acute tSCI patients.

Methods: The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) was queried for acute tSCI patients aged ≥18 who underwent spine surgery in 2019-2020. The Risk Analysis Index (RAI) was implemented with crosstabulation, to analyze frailty scores with the following binary outcome measures: overall complications, non-home discharge (NHD), extended length of stay (eLOS) (>75^th percentile), and mortality. Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (AUROC) analysis assessed the discriminative threshold of RAI compared to the modified 5-item Frailty Index (mFI-5) for NHD and 30-day mortality.

Results: A total of 9995 SCI patients underwent non-elective spine surgery. There were 1525 perioperative complications (15.3%) and 510 (5.1%) mortalities. An increasing RAI score was significantly associated with increasing postoperative mortality rates: RAI 0-20 (1.5%, N.=45), RAI 21-30 (3.4%, N.=110), RAI 31-40 (6.8%, N.=115), and RAI>41 (11.8%, N.=240) (P<0.001). RAI demonstrated superior discrimination compared to the mFI-5 for mortality and NHD with a C-statistic >0.72.

Conclusions: Increasing frailty, as measured by RAI, was a reliable predictor of non-home discharge and 30-day mortality for SCI patients who underwent non-elective spinal surgery and RAI demonstrated superior discrimination compared to the mFI-5 for NHD and mortality.

Background: Over the past 10 years, intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) has been widely performed during surgery for treating spondylotic cervical myelopathy. Our study considers the predictive value of IONM during laminoplasty, regarding, first, the adequacy of spinal cord decompression and, second, the long-term neuro-functional outcome.

Methods: We considered 38 patients with the diagnosis of degenerative cervical myelopathy who underwent an open-door laminoplasty. All patients were evaluated preoperatively, and at three and 12 months postoperatively, with the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) point scale. Upper and lower limb somatosensory and motor evoked potentials (SSEPs and MEPs) were recorded preoperatively and intraoperatively.

Results: During surgery, three of 38 patients showed a deterioration of SSEPs and MEPs compared to baseline values. Surgery was then converted from laminoplasty to laminectomy, resulting in the gradual restoration of the evoked potentials. The neurophysiological parameter significantly associated with a better clinical outcome was the latency of lower limbs MEPs. The 12 patients who had a more prominent reduction of the MEPs latency at the end of surgery showed a higher post-surgical JOA score, increasing ≥30% compared to baseline values at the 3- and 12-month follow-up.

Conclusions: Though not a predictor of clinical outcome, the IONM was essential to evaluate the effectiveness of spinal cord decompression. Reduced latency of lower limbs MEPs may predict a better clinical outcome. We suggest that IONM in patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy should be routine. It is necessary to conduct larger studies to clarify the predictive value of IONM.

Background: Treatment-related changes still represent a diagnostic challenge in the management of patients with suspect of recurrent glioblastoma. The specificity of conventional MRI in detecting recurrence remains limited. Brain PET imaging provides information on tumor metabolism and can contribute to improving the diagnostic accuracy of cerebral neoplasms. We performed a retrospective analysis to evaluate the clinical value of O-(2-¹⁸F-fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine (¹⁸F-FET) PET in the diagnosis of glioblastoma recurrence.

Methods: A retrospective analysis on patients considered suitable for salvage surgery for recurrence glioblastoma was performed. ¹⁸F-FET-PET was performed to investigate gadolinium enhancement suspected for recurrence. Static and kinetic ¹⁸F-FET parameters were analyzed and related to O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) status.

Results: Forty-two of the 51 patients who underwent ¹⁸F-FET-PET were re-operated. In each case, neuropathological diagnosis of tumor recurrence was confirmed. pMGMT hypermethylation was detected in 21 patients. Mean tumor-to-brain ratios (TBR) max was 3.87 (range 2.6-6.0). Static and kinetic ¹⁸F-FET parameters were similar according to MGMT status.

Conclusions: ¹⁸FET-PET can be a reliable tool to improve the selection of patients suitable for salvage surgery for glioblastoma recurrence.

Background: Anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) is a well-established surgical approach in the treatment of degenerative pathology, trauma, infection, and neoplasia of the spine. This study sought to assess the usefulness of frailty as a predictor of non-home discharge (NHD) for patients who undergo the procedure.

Methods: Patient cases were extracted from the American College of Surgeons's National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database from 2012 to 2020. Univariable and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses were used to compare the 5-item Modified Frailty Index (mFI-5) to the Revised Risk Analysis Index (RAI-rev) in relation to NHD.

Results: Simple linear regression demonstrated that increasing frailty was associated with an increased likelihood of NHD among 25,317 patients (mFI-5 odds ratio: 2.13, 3.23, 8.4; RAI-rev odds ratio: 3.22, 9.6, 23.6 [P<0.001 for all]). In each instance, a Cochran-Armitage trend test was significant (P<0.001), indicating a linear association of increasing odds. The RAI-rev resulted in a C-statistic of 0.722, compared to 0.628 for the mFI-5, and was shown to have superior discriminative ability with a DeLong Test (P<0.001).

Conclusions: Frailty, as measured by mFI-5 and RAI-rev, was associated with an increased likelihood of NHD in patients who underwent ALIF. This finding supports recent literature on the promising utility of these indices, especially the RAI-rev, in preoperative decision-making across multiple facets of neurosurgery.