Long-term safety of spinal cord stimulation systems in a prospective, global registry of patients with chronic pain.

The availability of long-term (>2 years) safety outcomes of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) remains limited. We evaluated safety in a global SCS registry for chronic pain. Participants were prospectively enrolled globally at 79 implanting centers and followed out to 3 years after device implantation.

Extraoperative electrical stimulation mapping in epilepsy presurgical evaluation: a proposal and review of the literature.

Background: Electrical stimulation mapping (ESM) is an important tool for the localization of the seizure onset zone (SOZ) in patients with medically resistant epilepsy (MRE). ESM is the gold standard for the identification of eloquent cortex in epilepsy surgery candidates. However, there is no standard protocol outlining how to perform ESM, to obtain the most useful information possible.

Role of resective surgery in patients older than 60 years with therapy-resistant epilepsy.

Objective: Epilepsy surgery for older adults is controversial owing to their longer duration of epilepsy and perceived higher surgical risk. However, because of an aging population and documented benefit of epilepsy surgery, surgery is considered more frequently for these patients. The authors' objective was to analyze the role of resective surgery in patients older than 60 years and to assess outcomes and safety.

A prospective controlled study on the impact of anterior temporal lobectomy on dream content.

Objective: Changes of dream ability and content in patients with brain lesions have been addressed in only about 100 case reports. All of these reports lack data regarding prelesional baseline dream content. Therefore, it was the objective of this study to prospectively assess dream content before and after anterior temporal lobectomy.

Long-Term Experience with Occipital and Supraorbital Nerve Stimulation for the Various Headache Disorders-A Retrospective Institutional Case Series of 96 Patients.

Objective: We have provided long-term data on clinically meaningful pain alleviation for drug-refractory headache disorders using occipital (ONS) and supraorbital nerve stimulation (SONS).

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of 96 patients with migraine, cervicogenic headache, cluster headache, neuropathic pain of the scalp, tension-type headache, and new daily persistent headache who had undergone ONS (61.5%), SONS (11.

Epilepsy surgery in stroke-related epilepsy.

Purpose: To provide a descriptive analysis on the presurgical evaluation and surgical management of a cohort of patients with stroke related epilepsy (SRE).

Methods: We retrospectively examined the clinical characteristics, results of non-invasive and invasive presurgical evaluation, surgical management and outcome of consecutive patients with drug-resistant SRE in our institution from January 1, 2013 to January 1, 2020.

Results: Twenty-one of 420 patients (5%) who underwent intracranial EEG (iEEG), resective epilepsy surgery and/or vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) placement, had SRE.

Vagus nerve stimulation does not alter brainstem nuclei morphology in patients with refractory epilepsy.

Objective: To describe morphological characteristics of the brainstem nuclei in response to chronic vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in patients with refractory epilepsy.

Background: VNS is a treatment option for individuals with medically refractory epilepsy. While treatment with VNS may achieve up to 50% seizure reduction and is protective against sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), its mechanism of action is not fully understood.

All that glitters: Contribution of stereo-EEG in patients with lesional epilepsy.

Objective: To determine the contribution of stereo-EEG for localization purpose in patients with a visible lesion on MRI.

Background: Intracranial EEG is often used to localize the epileptogenic focus in patients with non-lesional focal epilepsy. Its role in cases where a lesion is visible on MRI can be even more complex and the relationship between the lesion and the seizure onset has rarely been addressed.

Paresthesia-Free Spinal Nerve Root Stimulation for the Treatment of Chronic Neuropathic Pain.

Objective: Stimulation of the dorsal spinal roots, or spinal nerve root stimulation (SNRS), is a neuromodulation modality that can target pain within specific dermatomal distributions. The use of paresthesia-free stimulation has been described with conventional dorsal column spinal cord stimulation, although has yet to be described for SNRS. This objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of paresthesia-free high-frequency (1000-1200 Hz) SNRS in the treatment of intractable, dermatomal neuropathic pain.

Direct visualization and characterization of the human zona incerta and surrounding structures.

The zona incerta (ZI) is a small gray matter region of the deep brain first identified in the 19th century, yet direct in vivo visualization and characterization has remained elusive. Noninvasive detection of the ZI and surrounding region could be critical to further our understanding of this widely connected but poorly understood deep brain region and could contribute to the development and optimization of neuromodulatory therapies. We demonstrate that high resolution (submillimetric) longitudinal (T1) relaxometry measurements at high magnetic field strength (7 T) can be used to delineate the ZI from surrounding white matter structures, specifically the fasciculus cerebellothalamicus, fields of Forel (fasciculus lenticularis, fasciculus thalamicus, and field H), and medial lemniscus.

Assessing the effect of current steering on the total electrical energy delivered and ambulation in Parkinson's disease.

Vertical current steering (vCS) divides current between multiple contacts, which reduces radial spread to fine-tune the electric field shape and improves neuroanatomical targeting. vCS may improve the variable responsiveness of Parkinsonian gait to conventional deep brain stimulation. We hypothesized that vCS elicits greater improvement in ambulation in Parkinson's disease patients compared to conventional, single-contact stimulation.

Stereoelectroencephalography Versus Subdural Strip Electrode Implantations: Feasibility, Complications, and Outcomes in 500 Intracranial Monitoring Cases for Drug-Resistant Epilepsy.

Background: Both stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) and subdural strip electrodes (SSE) are used for intracranial electroencephalographic recordings in the invasive investigation of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.

Objective: To compare SEEG and SSE with respect to feasibility, complications, and outcome in this single-center study.

Methods: Patient characteristics, periprocedural parameters, complications, and outcome were acquired from a pro- and retrospectively managed databank to compare SEEG and SSE cases.

Seizure Freedom in Temporal Plus Epilepsy Surgery Following Stereo-Electroencephalography.

Background: "Temporal plus" epilepsy (TPE) is a term that is used when the epileptogenic zone (EZ) extends beyond the boundaries of the temporal lobe. Stereotactic electroencephalography (SEEG) has been essential to identify additional EZs in adjacent structures that might be part of the temporal lobe/limbic network.

Objective: We present a small case series of temporal plus cases successfully identified by SEEG who were seizure-free after resective surgery.

Effect of Training on Percutaneous Glycerol Rhizotomy for Trigeminal Neuralgia: A Long-Term, Retrospective Comparison of Staff Neurosurgeon and Trainee Complications and Efficacy.

Objective: The role of trainee involvement in lesioning procedures for trigeminal neuralgia (TN) has not yet been investigated in reported studies. The objective of the present study was to compare the complications and efficacy of percutaneous glycerol rhizotomy (GR) when performed by staff neurosurgeons and trainees.

Methods: A retrospective medical record analysis of 165 patients with medically refractory TN who had undergone 293 GR procedures by either a staff attending (n = 156) or trainee (n = 137) from 2007 to 2018 was performed.

Robot-Assisted Insular Depth Electrode Implantation Through Oblique Trajectories: 3-Dimensional Anatomical Nuances, Technique, Accuracy, and Safety.

Background: The insula is a deep cortical structure that has renewed interest in epilepsy investigation. Invasive EEG recordings of this region have been challenging. Robot-assisted stereotactic electroencephalography has improved feasibility and safety of such procedures.

A framework for evaluating correspondence between brain images using anatomical fiducials.

Accurate spatial correspondence between template and subject images is a crucial step in neuroimaging studies and clinical applications like stereotactic neurosurgery. In the absence of a robust quantitative approach, we sought to propose and validate a set of point landmarks, anatomical fiducials (AFIDs), that could be quickly, accurately, and reliably placed on magnetic resonance images of the human brain. Using several publicly available brain templates and individual participant datasets, novice users could be trained to place a set of 32 AFIDs with millimetric accuracy.

Percutaneous glycerol rhizotomy for trigeminal neuralgia in patients with multiple sclerosis: a long-term retrospective cohort study.

Objective: The prevalence of trigeminal neuralgia (TN) in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS-TN) is higher than in the general population (idiopathic TN [ITN]). Glycerol rhizotomy (GR) is a percutaneous lesioning surgery commonly performed for the treatment of medically refractory TN. While treatment for acute pain relief is excellent, long-term pain relief is poorer.

An assessment of K channel function in human cerebral arteries.

In the rodent cerebral circulation, inward rectifying K (K) channels set resting tone and the distance over which electrical phenomena spread along the arterial wall. The present study sought to translate these observations into human cerebral arteries obtained from resected brain tissue. Computational modeling and a conduction assay first defined the impact of K channels on electrical communication; patch-clamp electrophysiology, quantitative PCR, and immunohistochemistry then characterized K2.

Intradiploic Cerebrospinal Fluid Cyst Following Occipital Encephalocele Surgery in Patient with Dandy-Walker Malformation.

Intradiploic cerebrospinal fluid cysts are rare entities that have been reported to occur following trauma and surgery. We present a case of a 53-year-old female patient with an incidental intradipoloic cerebrospinal fluid cyst in communication with a Dandy-Walker malformation, likely related to a remote history of childhood surgery for occipital encephalocele.

Intracranial Electroencephalographic Monitoring: From Subdural to Depth Electrodes.

At the London Health Sciences Centre Epilepsy Program, stereotactically implanted depth electrodes have largely replaced subdural electrodes in the presurgical investigation of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy over the past 4 years. The rationale for this paradigm shift was more experience with, and improved surgical techniques for, stereoelectroencephalography, a possible lower-risk profile for depth electrodes, better patient tolerability, shorter operative time, as well as increased recognition of potential surgical targets that are not accessible to subdural electrodes.

Novel connectivity map normalization procedure for improved quantitative investigation of structural thalamic connectivity in temporal lobe epilepsy patients.

Background: Connectivity studies targeting the thalamus have revealed patterns of atrophy and deafferentiation in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). The thalamus can be parcellated using probabilistic tractography to demonstrate regions of cortical connectivity; however, sensitivity to smaller or less connected regions is low.

Purpose/hypothesis: To investigate thalamic structural connectivity in a wider range of cortical and limbic structures in TLE patients using a novel connectivity map normalization procedure.

Prohibited Arc Angles During Leksell Frame-Based Stereotaxy.

Background: During Leksell frame-based stereotaxy the lateral trajectory can be obstructed by the arc supports at certain combinations of the X-coordinate and arc angle.

Objective: To provide a matrix with usable and prohibited combinations of the X-coordinate and arc angle to faciliate finding lateral stereotactic trajectories with the Leksell frame in standard configuration.

Methods: Various combination settings of the X-coordinate and arc angle were tested for a Leksell Multi-Purpose Stereotactic Arc mounted on a Leksell Coordinate Frame G.

Operative Nuances of Stereotactic Leksell Frame-Based Depth Electrode Implantation.

Background: For intracranial electroencephalographic monitoring, stereotactically implanted depth electrodes are increasingly used at epilepsy centers around the world.

Objective: To identify pearls and pitfalls from our experience with stereotactic Leksell (Elekta AB, Stockhom, Sweden) frame-based depth electrode implantation.

Methods: An intraoperative video of the implantation technique was recorded.