Robot-assisted, CT-guided placement of responsive neurostimulator system with bilateral centromedian thalamus depth electrodes for multifocal intractable epilepsy.

The responsive neurostimulator system has become increasingly popular in the surgical management of refractory epilepsy, with targeting of various thalamic nuclei showing promising results in select patients. A 42-year-old female presented for evaluation of refractory epilepsy consisting of generalized tonic-clonic and focal seizures with preserved awareness. Phase I and II monitoring suggested multifocal bilateral epilepsy with bilateral frontal onset, and the patient underwent robot-guided bilateral centromedian thalamic placement of the RNS System.

Exploring the Role of the Pulvinar Nucleus of the Thalamus in Occipital Lobe Epilepsy: A Case Report.

Understanding the role of the pulvinar nucleus may be critical for guiding circuit-targeted neurosurgical intervention in some patients. In this report, a 33-year-old female presented with focal onset occipital epilepsy with secondary generalization and with a previously radiated arteriovenous malformation within the right primary visual cortex. Phase II monitoring demonstrated the pulvinar nucleus was not involved in subclinical seizures restricted to the primary visual cortex, but it did become involved in clinical events with more extensive seizure spread into higher visual cortical regions.

A Review of Preoperative Embolization Effectiveness in Patients With Arteriovenous Malformations.

Background And Objectives: Preoperative embolization of arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) remains controversial. This study sought to analyze the cost-effectiveness of preoperative embolization of AVMs.

Methods: Patients who underwent AVM resection at a single institute (January 1, 2015-December 31, 2020) were analyzed.

The temporal cost of deploying attention limits accurate target identification in rapid serial visual presentation.

Lag-1 sparing is a common exception to the attentional blink, where a target presented directly after T1 can be identified and reported accurately. Prior work has proposed potential mechanisms for lag 1 sparing, including the boost and bounce model and the attentional gating model. Here, we apply a rapid serial visual presentation task to investigate the temporal limitations of lag 1 sparing by testing three distinct hypotheses.

Thalamic neuromodulation in epilepsy: A primer for emerging circuit-based therapies.

Introduction: Epilepsy is a common, often debilitating disease of hyperexcitable neural networks. While medically intractable cases may benefit from surgery, there may be no single, well-localized focus for resection or ablation. In such cases, approaching the disease from a network-based perspective may be beneficial.

Assessing the volume-outcome relationship of carotid artery stenting in nationwide administrative data: a challenge of patient population bias.

Background: Studies have shown an association between surgical treatment volume and improved quality metrics. This study evaluated nationwide results in carotid artery stenting (CAS) procedural readmission rates, costs, and length of stay based on hospital treatment volume.

Methods: We used the Nationwide Readmissions Database for carotid stenosis from 2010 to 2015.

Effects of Preoperative Embolization on Spetzler-Martin Grade I and II Arteriovenous Malformations: A Propensity-Adjusted Analysis.

Background: Cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) with low Spetzler-Martin grades (I and II) are associated with good neurological outcomes after microsurgical resection; however, the use of preoperative embolization for these lesions is controversial.

Objective: To compare the neurological outcomes of preoperative embolization with no embolization in patients with low-grade AVMs.

Methods: Patients with a Spetzler-Martin grade I or II AVM who underwent microsurgical resection during January 1, 1997, through December 31, 2019, were analyzed.

External validation of the Lawton brainstem cavernous malformation grading system in a cohort of 277 microsurgical patients.

Objective: The brainstem cavernous malformation (BSCM) grading system predicts neurological outcomes associated with microsurgical resection and assists neurosurgeons in selecting patients for treatment. The predictive accuracy of the BSCM grading system should be validated in a large cohort from high-volume centers to generalize its use.

Methods: An external validation cohort comprised patients with a BSCM resected by the senior author (M.

COVID-19 and Neurosurgery Consultation Call Volume at a Single Large Tertiary Center With a Propensity-Adjusted Analysis.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected patient care across specialties. Ramifications for neurosurgery include substantial disruptions to surgical training and changes in nonurgent patient presentations to the emergency department. This study quantifies the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of emergency department patients who were referred to the neurosurgery department for further consultation and treatment and identifies and describes trends in the characteristics of these visits.

Volume-outcome relationship in pediatric neurotrauma care: analysis of two national databases.

Objective: Previous research has demonstrated the association between increased hospital volume and improved outcomes for a wide range of neurosurgical conditions, including adult neurotrauma. The authors aimed to determine if such a relationship was also present in the care of pediatric neurotrauma patients.

Methods: The authors identified 106,146 pediatric admissions for traumatic intracranial hemorrhage (tICH) in the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) for the period 2002-2014 and 34,017 admissions in the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) for 2012-2015.