Neurosurgical Review最新文献

Mirror aneurysms are rare and pose therapeutic challenges, with both endovascular and microsurgical options available. Single-stage and two-stage procedures are employed, but the optimal strategy remains unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluate the efficacy and safety of different therapeutic strategies for managing mirror aneurysms. The study adhered to PRISMA guidelines and comprehensively analyzed data from multiple databases, including Pubmed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library, up to 30th September 2024. Statistical analysis utilized the Comprehensive Meta-analysis (CMA) software version 3.0. This systematic review encompasses 42 studies, with 11 studies undergoing meta-analysis. The meta-analysis included 629 participants. Both microsurgical clipping and endovascular interventions achieved high rates of complete occlusion (RROC 1) (ES = 0.896; 95% CI: 0.840 to 0.931; P < 0.001) with low to moderate heterogeneity (I² = 46.46%). Favorable neurological outcomes (mRS ≤ 2) were significantly achieved among all patients (ES = 0.924; 95% CI: 0.891 to 0.948; P < 0.001) with low heterogeneity (I² = 15.52%). Subgroup analysis revealed that microsurgical clipping demonstrated superior occlusion rates and more consistent neurological outcomes compared to endovascular treatment. Also, complications were reported in seven studies (n = 492) and included cerebral infarction, hydrocephalus, and vasospasm. As well, mortality and recurrence were rare. Both microsurgical clipping and endovascular interventions are effective and safe for treating mirror aneurysms, with clipping showing superior occlusion rates and consistent outcomes. Single-stage procedures and unilateral craniotomy are associated with better neurological outcomes when feasible.

Background: Surgery for depressed skull fractures (DSFs) is always faced by multiple challenges including ideal timing, defect reconstruction and complications. Few data are available regarding the aesthetic results and patients' satisfaction following DSFs management.

Methods: A prospective non-randomized study included 59 traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients surgically treated for DSFs. Depressed bone fragments were elevated and washed with diluted hydrogen peroxide for 15 min then replaced within a net made of vicryl 0 through edges of the galea. Our objective was to evaluate outcome and patients' satisfaction of using autologous bone fragments for skull defect reconstruction.

Results: The mean Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score on admission was 14.51 ± 1.237. The mean age was 16.505 ± 12.426 years. DSFs were of compound type in 81.4% with predominance towards the parietal region 54.2%. Associated intracranial pathologies were found in 39.0% of cases. Mean time to surgery was 5.79 ± 9.982 h. Dura was found torn in 19 cases (32.2%). Postoperative complications were encountered in 5 cases (8.5%). The mean hospital stay was 3.61 ± 3.157 days. 96.6% of cases had good discharge outcome. Factors with significant impact on outcome included; admission GCS score (P < 0.001), type of associated pathology (P = 0.006), and venous sinus involvement (P = 0.003). At the end of follow up, 46 patients (82.5%) were satisfied about the aesthetic results, while 10 patients (17.5%) were not satisfied and 9 of them underwent re-surgery for late cranioplasty.

Conclusions: Using autologous depressed bone chips for skull defect reconstruction can be a safe and feasible surgical technique for TBI patients suffering DSFs with good aesthetic results, high patient satisfaction, decreased need for later cranioplasty and consequently low overall management cost.

Background: Levetiracetam (Lev), an antiepileptic drug (AED), enhances alkylating chemotherapy sensitivity in glioblastoma (GB) by inhibiting MGMT expression. This meta-analysis evaluates Lev's impact on GB treatment by analyzing overall survival of individual patient data (IPD) from published studies.

Methods: IPD was reconstructed using the R package IPDfromKM. Pooled IPD Kaplan-Meier charts of survival stratified by Lev therapy were created using the R package Survminer. One- and two-stage meta-analyses of Lev treatment regarding survival was performed.

Results: Three articles covering 825 patients were included out of 3567 screened records. Lev usage prevalence was 0.36. IPD from 590 IDH wild-type glioblastomas, with a median follow-up of 16.1 months, were utilized. Pooled data revealed median survival times of 19.2 months (95%CI: 16.4-22.0) for Lev users versus 16.5 months (95%CI: 15.2-17.8) for partial/no use (p = 0.006). One-stage meta-analysis indicated a significant association between Lev use and survival in IDH wild-type GB (HR: 1.33, 95%CI: 1.08-1.64, p = 0.007). Two-stage meta-analysis confirmed these results.

Conclusions: This meta-analysis highlights that Lev use may prolong survival in IDH wild-type GB patients. Further randomized trials are needed to confirm these findings and identify subgroups benefiting most from Lev treatment.

Despite being uncommon, postoperative vasospasm (PoVS) present notably high morbidity and mortality rates. Our aim was to identify prognostic factors associated with this condition and introduce a scoring system to improve subsequent clinical and radiological surveillance strategies. We conducted a retrospective analysis of our institutional database covering patients aged over 18 who underwent craniotomic or transsphenoidal surgery for elective tumor removal at the Neurosurgical Unit of our institution between January 2016 and August 2023. A comprehensive search was conducted using the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and PubMed database to identify the most correlated risk factors. Literature review included a final group of 32 studies (52 patients) and identified SAH, vessel encasement or vessel manipulation, hypothalamic disfunction, meningitis, younger age, tumor size > 3 cm, and long operative time as predictive factors for PoVS. Our cohort included 2132 patients, with only 13 individuals (0.61%) presenting PoVS. To predict the occurrence of PoVS, we developed a logistic multivariate regression model that identified thick (defined as Fisher grade ≥ 3) subarachnoid hemorrhage (coeff. 6.7, p < 0.001), intraparenchymal hemorrhage (coeff. 3.44, p < 0.001), lesion located in the parasellar region (coeff. 2.1, p = 0.064), and lesion size ≥ 4 cm (coeff. 2.0, p = 0.069) as potential independent predictors of PoVS. Based on statistical model for these variables was assigned a score: thick SAH 7 points, intraparenchymal hemorrhage 3 points, parasellar lesion site 2 points, and lesion size ≥ 4 cm 2 points. The cumulative scores ranged from 0 to 14. PoVS is a rare complication but its association with significant morbidity and mortality underscores the importance of early identification and treatment. In our study we proposed a stratified risk score to identify high risk patients. However, due to rarity of this condition, our score proposal should be considered as a training set a to be validated in future studies with a multicenter setting.

The aim of our study was to examine the relationship between uncus and uncal branches of anterior choroidal artery (AChA) and to observe the morphological and morphometric features of these branches. 124 hemispheres from 62 fresh cadavers were included in the study. Measurement of the length of AChA and the distances of the uncal branches to the origin of AChA were measured by ImageJ software. Morphological variations of uncal branches originating from AChA were observed. The length of AChA was found as mean 26.24 ± 4.34 mm. It was determined that the average distance of these uncal branches arising from the AChA was 13.48 ± 7.31 mm. In 4 out of 124 AChAs, no branches were observed. 594 branches originating from 120 were detected. 130/594 branches appeared to be terminal branches. AChAs of 80/120 hemispheres have been reported to have uncal branches. Thirty of 130 uncal branches were observed to originate as the first branch of AChA. It was found that uncal branches may originate from AChA with a variability between 1 and 4. When evaluated according to the origin of each branch from the AChA, it was observed that the uncal branches originated from the midpoint of the AChA on average. Also, in 64 hemispheres, morophological variations were detected regarding the origin of uncal branches. We believe that the morphological and morphometric data we obtained from the uncal branches of the AChA are of clinical importance in terms of understanding this complex region and minimizing errors in surgical procedures.

Disorders of serum phosphate, including hyperphosphatemia and hypophosphatemia, have been confirmed to be related to the poor prognosis of specific critically ill patients. No study analyzes the relationship between continuous serum phosphate level and mortality from aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). This study was performed to explore this relationship. aSAH patients were divided into four groups based on serum phosphate quartiles. Significant factors discovered in the univariate Cox regression were included in the multivariate Cox regression to explore the independent relationship between serum phosphate and mortality of aSAH. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to compare the difference in survival between the four groups. The 60-day mortality of overall aSAH patients was 20.7%. The mortality of the group with the 1st quartile (29.4%) and the 4th quartile (24.7%) had higher mortality than others (p = 0.028). Univariate Cox regression showed the 2nd quartile (p = 0.020) and 3rd quartile (p = 0.017) were associated with lower mortality risk than the 1st quartile. Compared with the 1st quartile, the 4th quartile was not associated with lower mortality risk (p = 0.458). After adjusting confounding effects, multivariate Cox regression showed only the 4th quartile was significantly associated with higher mortality risk (p = 0.009) than the 1st quartile. The unadjusted relationship between serum phosphate and mortality of aSAH is U-shaped. While high serum phosphate even within the normal range is independently related to the mortality of aSAH. Low serum phosphate may be just a marker for the severity of aSAH. Evaluating the initial serum phosphate is useful for risk stratification of aSAH.

Objective: Large language models and ChatGPT have been used in different fields of medical education. This study aimed to review the literature on the performance of ChatGPT in neurosurgery board examination-like questions compared to neurosurgery residents.

Methods: A literature search was performed following PRISMA guidelines, covering the time period of ChatGPT's inception (November 2022) until October 25, 2024. Two reviewers screened for eligible studies, selecting those that used ChatGPT to answer neurosurgery board examination-like questions and compared the results with neurosurgery residents' scores. Risk of bias was assessed using JBI critical appraisal tool. Overall effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals were determined using a fixed-effects model with alpha at 0.05.

Results: After screening, six studies were selected for qualitative and quantitative analysis. Accuracy of ChatGPT ranged from 50.4 to 78.8%, compared to residents' accuracy of 58.3 to 73.7%. Risk of bias was low in 4 out of 6 studies reviewed; the rest had moderate risk. There was an overall trend favoring neurosurgery residents versus ChatGPT (p < 0.00001), with high heterogeneity (I² = 96). These findings were similar on sub-group analysis of studies that used the Self-assessment in Neurosurgery (SANS) examination questions. However, on sensitivity analysis, removal of the highest weighted study skewed the results toward better performance of ChatGPT.

Conclusion: Our meta-analysis showed that neurosurgery residents performed better than ChatGPT in answering neurosurgery board examination-like questions, although reviewed studies had high heterogeneity. Further improvement is necessary before it can become a useful and reliable supplementary tool in the delivery of neurosurgical education.

Chordomas are rare, locally aggressive tumors that have a high rate of recurrence, especially at the skull base. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to analyze the efficacy and safety of proton beam therapy (PBT) and carbon ion radiotherapy (CIRT) for skull base chordoma. We conducted a systematic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, Web of Science, and Ovid up to November 26, 2023, following the PRISMA statement. Studies involving more than 10 patients with skull base chordoma treated with PBT or CIRT were included. The outcomes analyzed were local control, overall survival, progression-free survival, and toxicities. Meta-analysis was performed using the Mantel-Haenszel method and the inverse variance method. Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria, encompassing 1,145 patients (671 treated with PBT and 474 with CIRT). No significant difference was found between PBT and CIRT for 5-year local control (LC) and overall survival (OS). The only timepoint with a difference in local control was at 3 years, when PBT showed an advantage in local control (90% vs. 83% for CIRT; p = 0.05) and progression-free survival was similar (94% for PBT vs. 83% for CIRT; p = 0.09). Sensitivity analysis and meta-regression revealed no significant influence of predefined parameters on outcomes. Publication bias was suggested by asymmetrical funnel plots. Both PBT and CIRT are effective treatments for skull base chordoma, with comparable long-term efficacy. This meta-analysis underscores the need for individualized treatment approaches and further research to refine these therapies in clinical practice.

Objective: Endovascular procedures are associated with improved outcomes and patient satisfaction compared to open surgery in selected cases. However, this is at the cost of increased radiation exposure. Robotic procedures are thought to minimize radiation exposure and may confer procedural efficacy due to the lack of operator fatigue. Our systematic review and meta-analysis compares procedural efficacy of robotic versus manual diagnostic and stenting procedures.

Methods: PubMed, Embase and Scopus were searched in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. Articles reporting comparative outcomes between robotic and manual diagnostic and stenting procedures were included. Articles related to stereotactic radiosurgery and open surgical procedures were excluded. The Newcastle Ottawa Scale was used to assess risk of bias. Effect sizes (mean difference for robotic and manual procedures) and variances were calculated for procedure time. The random effects model was used to calculate pooled estimates for technical success using the "metafor" package in R (R software v4.2.1, Vienna, Austria).

Results: 6465 articles were identified through our search strategy. After 4683 articles were excluded through a title and abstract screen and 30 articles were excluded through a full text review, 3 articles reporting outcomes in 175 patients undergoing robotic procedures and 185 patients undergoing manual procedures were included. These studies reported comparative outcomes for carotid artery stenting, diagnostic cerebral angiograms and transverse sinus stenting. There was no significant difference in procedure time (mean difference: 0.14 min [95% confidence interval (CI): -0.58, 0.86, p = 0.64, I² = 68%]. Technical success was 0.05-fold lower for robotic procedures compared to manual procedures [95% CI: 0.00- 0.84), P = 0.04]. One study was considered high quality using the NOS.

Conclusions: Robotic procedures confer significantly lower rates of technical success with no significant difference in procedure time. Further studies are necessary to draw conclusions about potential benefits of robotic procedures including lower radiation exposure.