Comparison between extended transsphenoidal and transcranial surgery for craniopharyngioma: focus on hypothalamic function and obesity.

Purpose: Patients suffering from craniopharyngiomas currently have good survival rates, but long-term sequelae, such as development of obesity, worsen their quality of life. Optimal treatment is still controversial and changed during the decades, becoming less aggressive. Transcranial (TC) surgery was the first approach to be used, followed by extended transsphenoidal (eTNS) access.

Impact of flow and angioarchitecture on brain arteriovenous malformation outcome after gamma knife radiosurgery: the role of hemodynamics and morphology in obliteration.

Background: Few studies have evaluated the relationship between brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVMs) angioarchitecture and the response to Gamma Knife Stereotactic Radiosurgery (GKSR).

Methods: A prospectively enrolled single-center cohort of patients with bAVMs treated by GKSR has been studied to define independent predictors of obliteration with particular attention to angioarchitectural variables. Only patients older than 18 years old (y.

Enhanced SPARCL1 expression in cancer stem cells improves preclinical modeling of glioblastoma by promoting both tumor infiltration and angiogenesis.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most malignant brain tumor of adults and is characterized by extensive cell dissemination within the brain parenchyma and enhanced angiogenesis. Effective preclinical modeling of these key features suffers from several shortcomings. Aim of this study was to determine whether modulating the expression of extracellular matrix (ECM) modifiers in proneural (PN) and mesenchymal (MES) cancer stem cells (CSCs) and in conventional glioma cell lines (GCLs) might improve tumor invasion and vascularization.

Radiosurgical treatment of arteriovenous malformations in a retrospective study group of 33 children: the importance of radiobiological scores.

Purpose: Arteriovenous malformations' (AVMs) obliteration depends on several factors; among the many factors that must be considered to obtain a high rate of obliteration and a low rate of complications, Flickinger-Pollock Score (FPS) seems to have an important role but still have to be validated in the pediatric population while Paddick-Conformity Index (PCI) still has no demonstration of its utility on the outcome and is considered only as a treatment quality marker.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 33 consecutive children (2-18 years) with an AVM, treated with stereotactic radiosurgery Gamma Knife (SRS-GK) from 2001 to 2014 in our institution. We assess angiographic (DSA) Obliteration Rate (OR) as well FPS and PCI to draw conclusions.

A novel composite type I collagen scaffold with micropatterned porosity regulates the entrance of phagocytes in a severe model of spinal cord injury.

Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) is a damage to the spinal cord that results in loss or impaired motor and/or sensory function. SCI is a sudden and unexpected event characterized by high morbidity and mortality rate during both acute and chronic stages, and it can be devastating in human, social and economical terms. Despite significant progresses in the clinical management of SCI, there remain no effective treatments to improve neurological outcomes.