Neurological Surgery Resident ABNS Written Exam Scores Before and After Introduction of a Weekly Didactic Educational Intervention: A 12-Year Single-Institution Retrospective Study.

United States neurological surgery residency education has undergone substantive changes over the past 2 decades. Neurosurgical professional bodies have developed numerous initiatives providing standardized assessments and training opportunities for residency programs. However, there have been few studies using standardized measures to assess core components of educational programming in individual programs.

Neurosurgery Clerkships in United States Medical Schools: A Survey of Doctor of Medicine-Granting and Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine-Granting Schools.

Objective: Exposure to neurosurgery is important for knowledge of neurosurgical conditions that physicians may encounter. The current status of neurosurgery nonsubinternship clerkships in the United States is unknown; this study determined the availability and format of non-subinternship neurosurgery clerkships in DO (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine)-granting and MD (Doctor of Medicine)-granting U.S.

Virtual Interviews in Neurosurgery Resident Selection: A Follow-up Report.

Background: The 2021 U.S. neurosurgery residency match interviews were conducted virtually; we surveyed applicants and interviewers to determine satisfaction with that virtual interview process.

Reactivation of Disseminated Histoplasmosis With Central Nervous System Involvement Following a Primary Gastrointestinal Histoplasmosis Infection: A Case Report.

A 78-year-old white male with chronic pancytopenia presented with acute transient aphasia and dysarthria. He had a National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) of zero. Physical examination revealed slight aphasia with mild dysarthria.

Recognition of prodromal cervical spondylotic myelopathy presenting in a U.S. Veteran referred to chiropractic for acute thoracic pain: A case report.

Objective: To highlight a patient who was referred to a VA chiropractic clinic for thoracic pain and upon physical exam was found to be myelopathic, subsequently requiring surgery.

Clinical Features: A 58-year-old male attended a telephone interview with the VA chiropractic clinic for thoracic pain of 4 months duration; he denied neck pain, upper extremity symptoms or clumsiness of the feet or hands. At his in-person visit, he acknowledged frequently dropping items.

Virtual Interviews in Neurosurgery Resident Selection-A Work in Progress.

Introduction: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACGME recommended all interviews for the 2021 residency application cycle be held virtually. Because this is major shift from neurosurgical interviews in past years, this study aims to evaluate both applicant and interviewer satisfaction of conducting interviews virtually.

Methods: For faculty, an 11-question online survey was sent to 116 United States neurosurgery training programs.

The Rare Occurrence of Reoperation After Cervical Laminoplasty: A 14-Year Retrospective Review of Reoperative Rates at a Single Institution.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To determine the rate of recurrent or adjacent-level stenosis requiring reoperation after single-door cervical laminoplasty for spondylotic myelopathy at our institution.

Summary Of Background Data: Adjacent-level stenosis requiring reoperation is a commonly evaluated condition for anterior or posterior arthrodesis, however, there are few studies that evaluate adjacent-level stenosis in the case of cervical laminoplasty.

Stereotactic Brain Biopsy Hemorrhage Risk Factors and Implications for Postoperative Care at a Single Institution: An Argument For Postoperative Imaging.

Objective: To determine preoperative factors contributing to postoperative hemorrhage after stereotactic brain biopsy (STB), clinical implications of postoperative hemorrhage, and the role of postoperative imaging in clinical management.

Methods: Retrospective review of STB (2005-2018) across 2 institutions including patients aged >18 years undergoing first STB. Patients with prior craniotomy, open biopsy, or prior STB were excluded.

Case of Esophageal Perforation and Repair with a Supraclavicular Artery Island Fascial Flap 15 Years After Anterior Spine Surgery.

Background: Esophageal perforation represents a rare but potentially life-threatening complication of an anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion (ACDF). Delayed presentations of esophageal perforation more than 10 years following surgery are exceedingly rare and difficult to diagnose. Here, we discuss the case of an 80-year-old man who presented to the emergency department with progressive dysphagia 15 years after his ACDF.

Pediatric functional hemispherectomy: operative techniques and complication avoidance.

Functional hemispherectomy/hemispherotomy is a disconnection procedure for severe medically refractory epilepsy where the seizure foci diffusely localize to one hemisphere. It is an improvement on anatomical hemispherectomy and was first performed by Rasmussen in 1974. Less invasive surgical approaches and refinements have been made to improve seizure freedom and minimize surgical morbidity and complications.

EGFR806-CAR T cells selectively target a tumor-restricted EGFR epitope in glioblastoma.

Targeting solid tumor antigens with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy requires tumor specificity and tolerance toward variability in antigen expression levels. Given the relative paucity of unique cell surface proteins on tumor cells for CAR targeting, we have focused on identifying tumor-specific epitopes that arise as a consequence of target protein posttranslational modification. We designed a CAR using a mAb806-based binder, which recognizes tumor-specific untethered EGFR.

Synchronous identification of a dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor (DNET) and an oligodendroglioma in a patient: A case report.

Synchronous gliomas of different histopathology are quite rare in non-syndromic, non-irradiated patients. Although "mixed" gliomas are not infrequent, and malignant gliomas often contain areas of disparate differentiation (e.g.

Giant Pediatric Rhabdoid Meningioma Associated with a Germline BAP1 Pathogenic Variation: A Rare Clinical Case.

Background: Rhabdoid meningiomas are rare World Health Organization grade 3 tumors that tend to follow an aggressive course, with an increased likelihood for local recurrence, remote metastasis, and cerebrospinal fluid dissemination. Genetic testing has found certain genes associated with reduced time to tumor recurrence. BAP1 (BRCA1-associated protein 1) is a tumor suppressor gene that is associated with multiple tumors, including rhabdoid meningiomas.

The first report of human primary thoracic spine mast cell sarcoma: a case report.

In this report, we present a 53-year-old woman with primary mast cell sarcoma of the thoracic spine vertebrae. Mast cell sarcoma is an aggressive and rare cancer. To date, no cases of primary mast cell sarcoma have been reported in the spinal vertebrae.

Cerebral Blood Flow Changes in Glioblastoma Patients Undergoing Bevacizumab Treatment Are Seen in Both Tumor and Normal Brain.

Unlabelled: Bevacizumab (BEV) is increasingly used to treat recurrent glioblastoma (GBM) with some reported improvement in neurocognitive function despite potential neurotoxicities. We examined the effects of BEV on cerebral blood flow (CBF) within recurrent GBM tumor and in the contralateral middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory.Post-chemoradiation patients with histologically confirmed GBM were treated with BEV and underwent routine, serial tumor imaging with additional pseudocontinuous arterial spin labeling (pcASL) following informed consent.

Thermoreversible poly(ethylene glycol)-g-chitosan hydrogel as a therapeutic T lymphocyte depot for localized glioblastoma immunotherapy.

The outcome for glioblastoma patients remains dismal for its invariably recrudesces within 2 cm of the resection cavity. Local immunotherapy has the potential to eradicate the residual infiltrative component of these tumors. Here, we report the development of a biodegradable hydrogel containing therapeutic T lymphocytes for localized delivery to glioblastoma cells for brain tumor immunotherapy.

Transcriptional inhibition of REST by NeuroD2 during neuronal differentiation.

For a progenitor cell to become a neuron, three activities must occur: neuronal differentiation program must be activated, elements repressing neuronal differentiation must be deactivated and competing differentiation programs must be silenced. It is known that NeuroD2 and related bHLH transcription factors induce neuronal differentiation, REST represses neuronal differentiation, and Zfhx1a prevents myogenic gene expression. We demonstrate that NeuroD2 suppresses REST during differentiation in culture.

E protein dosage influences brain development more than family member identity.

Loss-of-function studies have revealed the role of many basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors at specific points during development; however, the role of E proteins in the development of the nervous system has not been experimentally addressed. E proteins have been speculated to interact selectively with class II bHLH factors to form different neurogenic complexes. In this study, using coimmunoprecipitation in a culture model of neurogenesis (P19 cells), we show that E proteins E12, HEB, and E2-2 interact with neuroD2.

Tumor paint: a chlorotoxin:Cy5.5 bioconjugate for intraoperative visualization of cancer foci.

Toward the goal of developing an optical imaging contrast agent that will enable surgeons to intraoperatively distinguish cancer foci from adjacent normal tissue, we developed a chlorotoxin:Cy5.5 (CTX:Cy5.5) bioconjugate that emits near-IR fluorescent signal.

Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid is effective in preclinical studies of medulloblastoma.

Purpose: Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) has been studied in adult solid and hematologic malignancies. However, little information has been reported on the effects of SAHA on central nervous system (CNS) tumors including medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in children. We investigated SAHA in preclinical medulloblastoma models to determine its anti-cancer efficacy as well as its ability to affect intracranial lesions when administered systemically.

Regulation of neuroD2 expression in mouse brain.

The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor, neuroD2, induces neuronal differentiation and promotes neuronal survival. Reduced levels of neuroD2 were previously shown to cause motor deficits, ataxia, and seizure propensity. Because neuroD2 levels may be critical for brain function, we studied the regulation of neuroD2 gene in cell culture and transgenic mouse models.