Publications by authors named "Alphonse Lubansu"

Unlabelled: Spine surgery and spinal fusion surgery are rising. Revision rates following initial surgery are between 8 and 45%. Epidural fibrosis is a common response to spine surgery for most patients and increases complications in revision surgery.

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Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an unprecedented challenge. Different models of reorganization have been described aiming to preserve resources and ensure optimal medical care. Limited clinical neurosurgical experience with patients with COVID-19 has been reported.

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Background: When Belgium's coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak began in March 2020, our neurosurgical department followed the protocol of most surgical departments in the world and postponed elective surgery. However, patients with tumor-like brain lesions requiring urgent surgery still received treatment as usual, in order to ensure ongoing neurooncologic care. From a series of 31 patients admitted for brain surgery, 3 were confirmed as infected by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

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Study Design: This was a prospective study evaluating the Pain Sensitivity Questionnaire (PSQ) in 110 patients undergoing spine surgery.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the ability of the PSQ-total and PSQ-minor scores with the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) in predicting the immediate postoperative pain of patients after spinal surgery and their risk of developing a chronically painful state.

Summary Of Background Data: Studies evaluating the PSQ as a preoperative determinant for the development of chronic pain are lacking.

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Context: The function of the upper cervical spine (UCS) is essential in the kinematics of the whole cervical spine. Specific motion patterns are described at the UCS during head motions to compensate coupled motions occurring at the lower cervical segments.

Aims: First, two methods for computing in vitro UCS discrete motions were compared to assess three-dimensional (3D) kinematics.

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We describe a percutaneous or minimally invasive approach to apply an augmentation of pedicle fenestrated screws by injection of the PMMA bone cement through the implant and determine the safety and efficiency of this technique in a clinical series of 15 elderly osteoporotic patients. Clinical outcome and the function were assessed using respectively the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Peri- and post-operative complications were monitored during a minimum of 2 years of follow-up.

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Background: As the scope of neurosurgical spinal operations has broadened widely, spinal neurosurgery is certainly the one of the fields of neurosurgery where the most changes are observed. Increasing health costs and an aging population will make this issue even more crucial in the future.

Methods: We reviewed the number of spinal procedures performed by neurosurgeons in Belgium between 2000 and 2005.

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Article Synopsis
  • The authors wanted to see how PET scans help doctors during surgery for brain tumors in kids.
  • They looked at 442 children and used PET scans when traditional MRIs weren’t good enough to guide surgery.
  • The results showed that PET scans really helped doctors make better decisions, remove more tumors, and even avoid unnecessary surgeries.
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Object: In this paper, the authors' goal was to evaluate the impact of PET data on the clinical management of incidental brain lesions in children.

Methods: Between 1995 and 2007, 442 children with a newly diagnosed brain lesion were referred to the authors' department. Of these, 55 presented with an incidental brain lesion and were selected for study because MR imaging sequences revealed limitations in assessing the tumor, its evolving nature, and/or the malignant potential of the lesion diagnosed.

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Object: Most intrinsic infiltrative brainstem lesions diagnosed in children are gliomas, and these carry a very bad prognosis. Although the utility and risk of stereotactically guided biopsy procedures in intrinsic infiltrative brainstem lesions have been widely questioned, the neuroimaging diagnosis may be inaccurate in approximately 25% of cases, and the consequences of empirical therapy should not be underestimated. Stereotactic biopsy sampling is still performed in many centers, but the reported diagnostic yield ranges from 83 to 96%.

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Intrastriatal grafts of fetal ganglionic eminences (GE) can reverse symptoms of striatal lesions in animal models of Huntington's disease. On the other hand, neurotrophic factors have been shown to protect host striatal neurons from ongoing degeneration. Neurotrophic gene transfer into GE prior to grafting could combine the benefits of striatal neuron replacement and in situ delivery of neurotrophic factors.

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Intrastriatal grafts of fetal ganglionic eminences (GE) can reverse symptoms of striatal lesions in animal models of Huntington's disease. On the other hand, neurotrophic factors have been shown to protect host striatal neurons from ongoing degeneration. Neurotrophic gene transfer into GE prior to grafting could combine the benefits of striatal neuron replacement and in situ delivery of neurotrophic factors.

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Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the rigid application of a sterile protocol for shunt placement was applicable on a routine basis and allowed the reduction of shunt infections (SI) in children.

Materials And Methods: Since 2001, a rigid sterile protocol for shunt placement in children using neither antibiotic-impregnated catheters nor laminar airflow was prospectively applied at Erasme Hospital, Brussels, Belgium. For assessing the protocol efficacy before continuation, we preliminarily analyzed the results of the first 100 operated children (43 females, 57 males, 49 aged <12 months; 115 consecutive shunt placement/revision procedures).

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Objective: The present article illustrates whether positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging may improve the surgical management of pediatric brain tumors (PBT) at different steps.

Materials And Methods: Among 400 consecutive PBT treated between 1995 and 2005 at Erasme Hospital, Brussels, Belgium, we have studied with (18) F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG)-PET and/or L-(methyl-(11)C)methionine (MET)-PET and integrated PET images in the diagnostic workup of 126 selected cases. The selection criteria were mainly based on the lesion appearance on magnetic resonance (MR) sequences.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study looked at how often kids get ongoing hydrocephalus, a brain condition, after surgery for certain types of brain tumors.
  • They discovered that doing surgery early helps most kids with hydrocephalus, but some still need further treatment.
  • The researchers say that a special procedure called endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) is helpful for those who continue to have problems after the first surgery.
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Case Report: Two patients with a posterior fossa arachnoid cyst responsible for isolated facial nerve palsy are reported.

Discussion: The relationships between the cyst and the facial nerve and between the facial nerve palsy and the size variation of the cyst are discussed and documented by pre- and postoperative magnetic resonance imaging.

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Introduction: Pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA) is a rare brain glial tumour found in young patients. Most cases are reported as evolving low-grade neoplasms associated with a long survival after complete surgical resection. Some PXAs, however, can demonstrate secondary malignant transformation or progress with a short survival.

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