Growing skull fracture with an atypical mechanism: a case report.

Growing skull fractures (GSFs) are well-known but rare causes of pediatric head trauma. They generally occur several months after a head injury, and the main lesion is located under the periosteum. We herein report a case involving a 3-month-old boy with GSF that developed by a different mechanism than previously considered.

Novel Technique for Rapid and Accurate Insertion of a Microguidewire Tail Into Low-Profile Devices During Endovascular Procedures: The Paper Rail Method.

Purpose: To report a novel technique ("paper rail") to facilitate inserting the tail of a microguidewire into the tip of a low-profile device during endovascular procedures.

Technique: A sterilized nonwoven fabric tape with a smooth glossy paper backing is used. The tape has several linear folds ideal for a paper rail.

Efficacy of the proximal balloon flow control method for endovascular coil embolisation as a novel adjunctive technique: A retrospective analysis.

Background and purpose In our previous study, we established the utility of 8-F balloon guide catheters for anterior circulation aneurysms. This study aims to assess the efficacy of the proximal flow control method using 8-F balloon guide catheters for coil deployment into the aneurysms as a novel adjunctive technique for aneurysmal coil embolisation along with local balloon neck remodeling, stent assist and double catheter techniques. Materials and methods We retrospectively analysed patients who underwent endovascular coiling of anterior circulation aneurysms between August 2013 and December 2017.

Novel Vertebral Artery Flow Reversal Method for Preventing Ischemic Complication during Endovascular Intervention.

Background And Purpose: We report a secure endovascular approach for the treatment of vascular lesions of the posterior circulation. Even if a large profile guide catheter is wedged in the unilateral vertebral artery (VA), our VA flow reversal method can prevent ischemic complications, including the spinal cord infarction.

Case Presentation: The patient was a 64-year-old woman who had been followed up for arteriovenous malformation (AVM) and an unruptured aneurysm of the basilar artery-superior cerebellar artery bifurcation.

Posterior inferior cerebellar artery with an extradural origin from the V segment: higher incidence on the nondominant vertebral artery.

OBJECTIVE The posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) and the vertebral artery (VA) often exhibit anatomical variations at the craniovertebral junction (CVJ). An example of this is the PICA originating extradurally from the V segment of the VA. To date, some cadaveric investigations have been reported, but the incidence and relationship of this variation to the VA and the atlas as observed on clinical imaging have not been discussed.

Interleukin-6, MCP-1, IP-10, and MIG are sequentially expressed in cerebrospinal fluid after subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Background: Interleukin-6 (IL-6), an inflammatory cytokine, plays important roles in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Chemokines are chemoattractant cytokines that regulate trafficking of monocytes/macrophages and lymphocytes to sites of inflammation. However, no studies have been reported regarding the temporal expression of these cytokines in CSF after SAH.

Pitfalls in the Management of Atlanto-Occipital Dislocation.

Atlanto-occipital dislocation (AOD) is rarely seen in clinic because it is characteristically immediately fatal. With recent progress in the pre-hospital care, an increasing number of AOD survivors have been reported. However, because the pathophysiology of AOD is not clearly understood yet, the appropriate strategy for the initial management remains still unclear.

Diagnostic accuracy of multifidus muscle spontaneous activity by needle electromyography for the detection of lumbar foraminal and lateral exit-zone stenosis.

Purpose: The medial branch of the posterior ramus of the lumbar spinal nerve is well known to be innervated independently and to end in the multifidus muscle without anastomosis. This prospective cohort study aimed to determine the diagnostic specificity and sensitivity of multifidus muscle denervation (MMD) by needle electromyography (N-EMG) for lumbar foraminal and lateral exit-zone stenosis (LF/LEZS).

Methods: We enrolled 61 consecutive patients experiencing unilateral dysesthesia and/or leg pain in the L4 or L5 regions with suspicious LF/LEZS.

Pathomorphological description of the shunted portion of a filum terminale arteriovenous fistula.

Background Context: The clinical morphology of a filum terminale arteriovenous fistula (f-AVF) is well known; however, pathological details of the fistulized portion are unknown. Herein, we report the pathological findings of the f-AVF.

Study Design: Case report and literature review.

Upper cervical cord compression due to a C-1 posterior arch in a patient with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament and a kyphotic cervical spine in the protruded-head position: case report.

In this paper the authors report the case of a patient with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) below the axial vertebra (C-2) at the kyphotic cervical spine, with an atlas vertebra (C-1) posterior arch that compressed the spinal cord with the head in a pathognomonic position, similar to a protruded position. This condition appears to be very rare. The morphological findings between the kyphotic cervical spine and OPLL, the upper occipitocervical junction, and the protruded-head position are discussed.

Plasmapore-coated titanium cervical cages induce more rapid and complete bone fusion after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion as compared to noncoated titanium cages.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the solid bone fusion rates between Plasmapore-coated titanium cages (PPC group) and non-Plasmapore-coated titanium cages (N-PPC group) in patients who received anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF).

Methods: Of 78 patients who received ACDF at the hospital, a follow-up period greater than 2 years was possible for 61 patients, including 30 in the PPC group and 42 in the N-PPC group. Evaluations were performed at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after surgery.

Activation of Ras/MEK/ERK signaling in chronic subdural hematoma outer membranes.

Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) is considered to be an angiogenic disease. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), one of the important growth factors regulating angiogenesis, is expressed in the neomembranes and also in hematoma fluid, and the Ras/MEK/ERK signaling pathway has been implicated in angiogenesis by VEGF. In the present study, the status of this signaling pathway in CSDH outer membranes was examined using outer membranes obtained during trepanation surgery.

[Intracranial metastasis of thymoma: report of three cases].

Thymoma with metastasis to the central nervous system is extremely rare. Herein, three rare cases of thymoma with intracranial metastasis are reported. Case 1 (thymoma, B3 in the WHO classification); cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a mass lesion with a ring enhancement effect in the right temporal lobe.

[Epidermoid tumor originating from the petrous bone: report of two cases].

In case 1, the tumor was incidentally found in the right petrous bone, middle cranial fossa and cerebello-pontine angle. T1 weighted MRI demonstrated a low intense mass and T2 weighted imaging demonstrated hyperintensity. Through the subtemporal extradural approach, an epidermoid in the middle cranial fossa was partially removed.

[Recovery of consciousness by electrical dorsal column stimulation in brain injury patients].

Treatment with electrical dorsal column stimulation was performed in 7 cases of diffuse axonal injury, 2 cases of brain contusion and 1 case of hypoxic diffuse brain damage. After inadequate response to various treatment modalities, each patient was implanted with a spinal cord stimulation system. The effectiveness was assessed using a standard scoring system which consisted of state scale and reaction scale (the society for treatment of coma).