Publications by authors named "Alim Basaran"

Background: Spinal hemangioblastomas (sHBs) are rare vascular tumors with significant neurological implications. Their management, particularly in von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease, remains challenging due to recurrence and functional decline. Timely identification and intervention are critical for optimal outcomes.

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Background: Acute subdural hematoma is a critical condition, leading to significant morbidity and mortality. Despite advancements in surgical techniques, a portion of patients only show limited clinical improvement post-evacuation. Surgical intervention decisions are critically important, as they can either improve or worsen a patient's condition.

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Sphenoid wing meningiomas (SWM) frequently compress structures of the optic pathway, resulting in significant visual dysfunction characterized by vision loss and visual field deficits, which profoundly impact patients' quality of life (QoL), daily activities, and independence. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of SWM surgery on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) regarding postoperative visual function. The Visual Function Score Questionnaire (VFQ-25) is a validated tool designed to assess the impact of visual impairment on quality of life.

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To assess the predictive accuracy of advanced AI language models and established clinical scales in prognosticating outcomes for patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). This retrospective cohort study included 82 patients suffering from aSAH. We evaluated the predictive efficacy of AtlasGPT and ChatGPT 4.

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Background: Pediatric meningiomas (PMs) are rare central nervous system tumors, accounting for 1-5% of all meningiomas, and differ from adult meningiomas in clinical, histopathological, and molecular features. Current guidelines primarily focus on adults, leaving a gap in evidence-based management for PMs. This study presents the largest meta-analysis of longitudinal individual patient data (IPD) to date, addressing progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in pediatric patients.

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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.

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Objective: Maximum extent of resection in glioma yields enhanced survival outcomes. The contemporary literature presents contradictory results regarding the benefit of intraoperative MRI (iMRI). This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of iMRI-guided surgery.

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  • Obstructive hydrocephalus (HCP) related to vestibular schwannoma (VS), particularly in larger tumors, often requires patients to undergo ventriculo-peritoneal (VP) surgery even after the tumor is removed; this study investigates why some patients still need VP surgery post-surgery.
  • Using advanced MRI techniques, the research assessed brain volumes and found that a specific brain ventricle to total brain volume (VTB) ratio can help predict whether patients will need a VP shunt after surgery, with a sensitivity of 67% and specificity of 81% based on optimal threshold values.
  • Key factors associated with dependency on VP shunts include having a higher preoperative
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Background: Although postoperative quality of life (QoL) has been studied in relation to a variety of aspects following meningioma resection, the impact of meningiomas on sexual life has not been investigated. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of cranial meningioma surgery on patients' postoperative sexual life.

Methods: A standardized questionnaire, anonymous and based on the Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX), was sent to 87 patients who had been selected for participation in the study based on the following criteria: a postoperative Karnofsky performance of ≥ 80 and below 60 years of age at diagnosis.

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  • The study investigates the impact of dexamethasone on postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing meningioma surgery, despite limited prospective evidence supporting its routine use.
  • A total of 148 patients were retrospectively analyzed to assess safety, complications, and changes in their performance status (KPS) at 3 and 12 months post-surgery, along with monitoring for peritumoral T2/FLAIR hyperintensity.
  • Results indicated that dexamethasone did not increase the incidence of surgical complications but was linked to significant improvements in KPS over time and reduced peritumoral hyperintensity, suggesting a potential benefit in patient recovery.
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  • Homozygous CDKN2A/B deletions are linked to a higher risk of meningioma recurrence, but research on heterozygous deletions is limited.
  • A meta-analysis reconstructed individual patient data from four studies involving 2,521 participants to analyze progression-free survival (PFS) rates based on CDKN2A/B deletion status.
  • The findings indicated that both types of deletions significantly shorten time to progression, with median PFS times being drastically lower for those with deletions compared to wild-type status (180 months for wild-type vs. 11 months for homozygous deletions).
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Neural plasticity is a complex process dependent on neurochemical underpinnings. Next to the glutamatergic system which contributes to memory formation via long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD), the main inhibitory neurotransmitter, GABA is crucially involved in neuroplastic processes. Hence, we investigated changes in glutamate and GABA levels in the brain in healthy participants performing an associative learning paradigm.

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Background: Intrameningioma metastasis is a rare differential diagnosis. The clinical implications of these lesions are poorly understood. We screened our database to identify all patients who had been undergone surgery between January 2000 and December 2018 and had been diagnosed with intrameningioma metastasis.

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Objective: Totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass grafting was shown to be feasible and safe, with excellent clinical and angiographic mid-term results. Data on long-term outcome are lacking. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the long-term rate of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events and left internal mammary artery patency rate in patients undergoing arrested heart totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass grafting.

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