Journal of neurological surgery. Part A, Central European neurosurgery最新文献

Background and study aims: Spine surgeries are one of the most widely accepted method of surgery in orthopaedics. However, one of the most common complications of spine surgeries is surgical site infection (SSI), that associated with various post operative morbidities. The use of antibiotics impregnated bone cement (AIBC) is common in orthopaedics surgeries. Therefore, we aim to provide comprehensive review of AIBC use in spine surgeries.

Methods: Data was gathered from PubMed, Europe PMC, and ScienceDirect using keywords associated with AIBC and spine surgeries. We included all publications associated with AIBC and spine surgeries. Studies without full paper, non-English publications, review articles, and animal or cadaveric studies are excluded. The quality of each included studies assessed using Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS) and Joana Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal for case reports, case series, and quasi experimental studies.

Results: 15 studies with total of 322 patients using AIBC in spine surgery were included. 10 of 15 studies reported 100% infection-free event with AIBC administration with or without given systemic antibiotics. Two studies did not report 100% infection free event due to MRSA infections and technical causes. 3 studies reported the use of AIBC without disclosing outcomes. Various types of bacteria ranging from MSSA to MRSA have been discovered, with PMMA and vancomycin being the most frequently used AIBC.

Conclusion: Antibiotics impregnated bone cement can be used to prevent post-operative infections due to its high effectiveness, easy administration, and no side effects have ever been reported. Further studies are needed to determine the most appropriate antibiotics, dose, and type of cement.

Background:  Augmented reality is a new technology that, when applied to spinal surgery, offers the potential for efficient, safe, and accurate placement of pedicle screws. This study investigated whether augmented reality combined with a guide board improved the safety and accuracy of pedicle screw placement compared to traditional freehand screw placement.

Methods:  Four trainers were divided into augmented reality navigation and freehand groups. Each group consisted of a novice and an experienced spine surgeon. A total of 80 pedicle screws were implanted. First, the AR group reconstructed the three-dimensional (3D) model and planned the screw insertion route according to the computed tomography (CT) data of L2 lumbar vertebrae. Next, the Microsoft HoloLens 2 was used to identify the vertebral model, and the planned virtual path was superimposed on the real cone model. Then, the screw was placed according to the projected trajectory. Finally, Micron Tracker was used to measure the deviation of screws from the preoperatively planned trajectory, and pedicle screws were evaluated using the Gertzbein-Robbins scale.

Results:  In the augmented reality group, the linear deviation of the experienced doctors and novices was 1.59 ± 0.39 and 1.73 ± 0.52 mm, respectively, and the deviation angle was 2.72 ± 0.61 and 2.87 ± 0.63 degrees, respectively. In the freehand group, the linear deviation of the experienced doctors and novices was 2.88 ± 0.58 and 5.25 ± 0.62 mm, respectively, and the deviation angle was 4.41 ± 1.18 and 7.15 ± 1.45 degrees, respectively. The screw placement accuracy rate was 97.5% in the augmented reality navigation group and 77.5% in the freehand group.

Conclusions:  Augmented reality navigation improves the accuracy and safety of pedicle screw implantation compared with the traditional freehand method and can assist inexperienced doctors in successfully completing the surgery.

Background:  Chronic subdural hematoma (cSDH) is a common neurosurgical condition of growing importance due to the aging population and increasing use of antithrombotic agents. Due to the lack of guidelines, great variability is observed in the treatment of cSDH. We conducted a multicenter, nationwide survey to assess the differences in treatment across Germany in the context of surgical practices discussed in the literature.

Methods:  A web-based survey was designed using the REDCap electronic data capture tool hosted at the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The survey was divided into four parts: preoperative management and indication for surgery, perioperative management of medication, surgical technique, and postoperative management. The survey was distributed to German neurosurgical departments through the newsletter of the German Society of Neurosurgery and direct e-mail contact and could be answered by one member of each department between March 1 and May 31, 2023.

Results:  Overall, representatives of 46 German neurosurgical departments completed the survey. Participants needed a mean time of 16:25 minutes (standard deviation [SD] ± 27:47 minutes) to complete the survey. The mean caseload of the participating departments was 1,831.5 (range: 300-6,000; SD ± 1,130.7) operations per year, including 87.8 procedures for cSDH (range: 15-300; SD ± 73.6). Evidence found in the literature regarding the performance of a burr hole craniotomy, use of a drain, passive drainage, removal of the drain 48 hours after surgery, and early mobilization after surgery was consistently implemented in the management of the surveyed departments. On the contrary, recommendations regarding the performance of surgery under local anesthesia, use of subgaleal drains, postoperative Valsalva maneuvers, and avoidance of postoperative computed tomography (CT) if possible were not universally implemented.

Conclusion:  This survey indicates that there is no consensus on the treatment of cSDH in Germany and that the steadily increasing evidence from clinical trials must be implemented in national and international guidelines. The development of tailored treatment strategies for older patients with multiple risk factors and comorbidities is of particular importance.

Background:  Hemimasticatory spasm (HMS) is an uncommon movement disorder of the trigeminal motor rootlet characterized by unilateral, involuntary, and paroxysmal contractions of the muscles of mastication. The mechanisms for HMS are still unclear, and an efficient treatment strategy still needs to be developed. This study aims to investigate the clinical features and surgical treatment of HMS.

Methods:  Twelve patients with HMS were included in our study. The patient data regarding clinical characteristics, neuroimaging presentations, intraoperative findings, and treatment outcomes were analyzed retrospectively. Highly selective trigeminal motor root rhizotomy (HSTR) combined with microvascular compression was performed in nine cases with neurovascular conflict, whereas three patients without vascular compression underwent HSTR only.

Results:  Intraoperative findings showed that there were two patients with six branches, two patients with five branches, and the remaining patients with three to four branches of the trigeminal motor roots. Seven patients had two motor branches severed, three patients had one motor branch severed, and two patients each had three motor branches severed. Nine patients recovered uneventfully and showed no signs of spasms, and the remaining two patients experienced complete disappearance of symptoms within 3 months after surgery. In one patient, the symptoms disappeared immediately after surgery but recurred 2 years later.

Conclusion:  The surgical procedures of HSTR can significantly alleviate the clinical symptoms of patients with HMS without serious complications.

Background:  There are some cases where a radial artery (RA) graft is needed for a high-flow extracranial to intracranial (EC-IC) bypass as the external carotid artery (ECA) cannot be utilized as a donor artery. In this report, we describe two cases of extracranial vertebral artery (VA) to middle cerebral artery (MCA) high-flow bypass using an RA graft with an artificial vessel as an alternative bypass technique.

Methods:  The patient was placed supine with a head rotation of 80 degrees. After frontotemporal craniotomy, another C: -shaped skin incision was made at the retroauricular region and the V3 portion of the VA was exposed at the suboccipital triangle. Prior to attempting the high-flow bypass, the superficial temporal artery (STA) was anastomosed to the M4 portion of the MCA as an insurance bypass. The RA graft was anastomosed to the V3 portion of the VA that traveled under the periosteum at the supra-auricular region through an artificial vessel. After RA-M2 anastomosis, an alternative EC-IC bypass, the V3-RA-M2 bypass, was achieved.

Results:  Postoperative angiography demonstrated successful graft patency and no perioperative complications were observed in both cases.

Conclusions:  In the cases where a high-flow bypass is required, the V3 portion of the VA is a suitable alternative proximal anastomosis site when the ECA is not a candidate donor. Furthermore, an artificial vessel shows satisfactory protection against graft complications.

Background:  Subdural hematoma (SDH) occasionally accompanies dural metastasis and is associated with high recurrence rate, significantly impacting patient morbidity and mortality. This systematic review aims to evaluate the characteristics, management options, and outcomes of patients with SDH associated with dural metastasis.

Methods:  A comprehensive search of the PubMed and Cochrane databases was conducted for English-language studies published from inception to March 20, 2023, adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The authors reviewed cases of histopathologically confirmed SDH with non-central nervous system (non-CNS) tumor metastasis, focusing on therapeutic management of SDH. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software, with a significance level set at 0.05.

Results:  This review included 32 studies comprising 37 patients with 43 SDH cases associated with dural metastasis. Chronic SDH was the most frequently observed presentation (n = 28, 65.12%). The systemic malignancies most commonly associated with SDH due to dural metastasis were prostate carcinoma (n = 9, 24.32%) and gastric carcinoma (n = 5, 13.51%). A statistically significant association was found between metastatic melanoma and subacute SDH (p = 0.010). The majority of patients were treated with burr holes (n = 15, 40.54%) or craniotomies (n = 14, 37.84%), with no statistically significant difference in mortality rates between the two techniques (p = 0.390). Adjuvant therapy was administered to a limited number of patients (n = 5, 13.51%), including chemotherapy (n = 2, 5.41%), whole brain radiotherapy (n = 1, 2.70%), a combination of chemotherapy and whole brain radiotherapy (n = 1, 2.70%), and transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (n = 1, 2.70%). The overall recurrence rate was 45.95% (n = 17), with burr holes being the most common management approach (n = 4, 10.81%). Within a median of 8 days, 67.57% (n = 25) of patients succumbed, primarily due to rebleeding (n = 3, 8.11%), disseminated intravascular coagulation (n = 3, 8.11%), and pneumonia (n = 3, 8.11%).

Conclusion:  This review highlights the need for improving existing neurosurgical options and exploring novel treatment methods. It also emphasizes the importance of dural biopsy in patients with suspected metastasis to rule out a neoplastic etiology.

Background:  Brain abscesses are a major health problem with significant morbidity and mortality rates. The objective of this study was to compare the surgical efficacy of endoscope-assisted evacuation of a brain abscess with that of single burr hole aspiration in a tertiary health care center.

Methods:  This single-center nonrandomized clinical study was conducted during the period from July 2020 to December 2021. Male and female patients younger than 30 years who presented with brain abscess were enrolled in this study. They were divided into two groups and treated with two different techniques: conventional burr hole aspiration group and endoscope-assisted evacuation group.

Results:  Thirty patients were enrolled in this study. The mean age was 13.0 ± 6.3 years in the burr hole group and 13.1 ± 6.4 years in the endoscope-assisted group. There was ≥75.0% evacuation of brain abscess on postoperative day 1 in 13 (92.9%) patients in the endoscope-assisted group and in 5 (33.3%) patients in the burr hole group. The mortality rate was 6.7% in both groups. The mean residual volume on postoperative day 30 was 0.75 mL in the endoscope-assisted group and 1.75 mL in the burr hole aspiration group. No patients treated with endoscope-assisted evacuation required a repeat surgery, whereas five patients (33.3%) treated with the conventional burr hole method required a repeat surgery.

Conclusions:  This study showed that the endoscope-assisted procedure has a better rate of abscess evacuation, lower residual risk, and less chance of repeat surgeries than the conventional burr hole procedure.

Background:  In pediatrics, shunt infection is considered the most common complication of ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt insertion and the main cause of shunt failure. Careful surgical technique and hygienic skin preparations are highly important for prevention of shunt infections. Our objective was to assess the significance of using preoperative chlorhexidine/alcohol as a skin antiseptic in reducing the infection rate in pediatric VP shunts surgery.

Methods:  We conducted a retrospective, case control study of 80 pediatric patients with active hydrocephalus. The control group (a single step of preoperative skin antisepsis using povidone-iodine and isopropyl alcohol) comprised 40 patients who underwent a shunt surgery between January 2019 and June 2020 and the study group (two steps of preoperative skin antisepsis using 2% chlorhexidine gluconate in 70% isopropyl alcohol as a first step followed by povidone-iodine as a second step) comprised 40 patients who underwent a shunt surgery between July 2020 and January 2022.

Results:  Shunt infection was encountered in 11 (13.7%) patients. It was significantly higher in preterm babies (p = 0.010), patients with a previous shunt revision (p < 0.001), and those with a previous shunt infection (p < 0.001). The incidence of infection was 22.5% in the control group and 5% in study group, with a statistically significant difference (p = 0.023).

Conclusions:  Two steps of preoperative skin antisepsis, first using chlorhexidine/alcohol and then povidone-iodine scrub solution, may significantly reduce the infection rate in pediatric VP shunt surgeries.

Background:  Life-threatening basilar artery dissection (BAD) can be seen following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), but it is not clear whether SAH causes dissection, or not. This study aims to investigate the relationship between degenerative changes in the superior cervical ganglia and the dissection rate of the basilar artery.

Method:  In this study, after 3 weeks of experimental SAH, animals were decapitated. Eighteen rabbits were divided into three groups according to their vasospasm indices. The basilar arteries were examined by anatomical and histopathologic methods.

Results:  Basilar dissection with high vasospasm index (VSI) value (VSI > 3) was detected in six animals (group I); severe basilar edema and moderate VSI value (>2.4) were detected in seven rabbits (group II); and slight VSI value (<1.5) was detected in five subjects (group III). The degenerated neuron densities of the superior cervical ganglia were 12 ± 4 n/mm³ in group I, 41 ± 8 n/mm³ in group II, and 276 ± 78 n/mm³ in group III. The dissected surface values/lumen values were calculated as (42 ± 1)/(64 ± 11) in G-I, (21 ± 6)/(89 ± 17) in group II, and (3 ± 1)/(102 ± 24) in group III. If we look at these ratios as a percentage, it was 62% in group I, 23% in group II, and 5% in group III.

Conclusion:  Inverse relationship between the degenerated neuron densities of the superior cervical ganglia and the dissected surface values of the basilar artery was observed. Common knowledge is that BAD may lead to SAH; however, this study indicates that SAH is the cause of BAD.

Background:  Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) has been demonstrated to be an effective and safe treatment method for dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVFs). However, only few studies, mostly with limited patient numbers, have evaluated radiosurgery as a sole and upfront treatment option for DAVFs.

Methods:  Thirty-three DAVF patients treated with GKRS as a stand-alone management at our institution between January 1992 and January 2020 were included in this study. Obliteration rates, time to obliteration, neurologic outcome, and complications were evaluated retrospectively.

Results:  Complete overall obliteration was achieved in 20/28 (71%) patients. The postradiosurgery actuarial rates of obliteration at 2, 5, and 10 years were 53, 71, and 85%, respectively. No difference in time to obliteration between carotid-cavernous fistulas (CCFs; 14/28, 50%, 17 months; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 7.4-27.2) and non-CCFs (NCCFs; 14/28, 50%, 37 months; 95% CI: 34.7-38.5; p = 0.111) were found. Overall, the neurologic outcome in our series was highly favorable at the time of the last follow-up. A complete resolution of symptoms was seen in two-thirds (20/30, 67%) of patients. One patient with multiple DAVFs suffered from an intracranial hemorrhage of the untreated lesion and died during the follow-up period, resulting in a yearly bleeding risk of 0.5%. No complications after radiosurgery were observed in our series.

Conclusion:  Our results show that GKRS is a safe and effective stand-alone management option for selected DAVF patients.