Long-term behavioral and cognitive outcomes following clipping for incidental unruptured intracranial aneurysms.

Objective: Recent advances in neuroimaging techniques have resulted in more frequent detection of unruptured intracranial aneurysms. Regardless of the method employed, most interventions to treat lesions have low morbidity and mortality rates. Recently, some studies have suggested that changes in cognitive status are one complication of microsurgical treatments.

Route learning performance: is it a hippocampus function?

Introduction: In temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), about 30% of the patients do not achieve adequate pharmacologic control of refractory crises, and surgery becomes an alternative. In ablative interventions, neuropsychologic testing of memory is a crucial step. However, evaluations of the right hippocampal functions have not been consistent.

Effect of N-acetylcysteine on vasospasm in subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Vasospasm remains an extremely serious complication that affects patients presenting with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) due to ruptured intracranial aneurysms. The current therapeutic armamentarium is still insufficient in many cases, and the search for new therapies is necessary. In this study, we evaluated the effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on cerebral arterial vasospasm using an experimental model.

Microsurgical clipping in forty patients with unruptured anterior cerebral circulation aneurysms: an investigation into cognitive outcome.

Objective: It is a consensus that most unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIA) can be treated with acceptably low morbidity. However, some studies recently reported postoperative cognitive impairment, suggesting that it could be attributable to surgical damage. Our goal is to evaluate cognitive function before and after microsurgical clipping in patients with UIA.

Intradural spinal meningioma in a 20-month-old female.

Meningiomas in children account for less than 2% of all meningiomas, and their location in the spinal region is even less common. The authors present a case of a 20-month-old female who presented with lumbar back pain, neurogenic bladder and progressive paraparesis 6 months after she started to walk. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated an intradural extramedullary neoplasm extending from the tenth thoracic vertebra to the third lumbar vertebra.

Hyperprolactinemia and immunohistochemical expression of intracellular prolactin and prolactin receptor in primary central nervous system tumors and their relationship with cellular replication.

The role of prolactin (PRL) in the CNS remains uncertain. We evaluated the presence of hyperprolactinemia, intracellular prolactin (ICP), and prolactin receptor (PRL-R) in primary CNS tumors, and their relationship with cellular replication with a prospective cross-sectional study of 82 consecutive patients with primary CNS tumors admitted for neurosurgical resection between October 2003 and September 2005. Patients submitted to a questionnaire, and venous blood samples were obtained for measurement of serum PRL and TSH.

Intracranial intrasellar kissing carotid arteries: case report.

Intracranial "kissing" carotid arteries are a rare variant of the carotid arteries, where both internal carotid arteries deviate medially and touch each other near the midline within the sphenoid sinus or the sphenoid bone, including the sella. This anomaly is particularly important since it may cause or mimic pituitary disease and also may complicate transsphenoidal surgery. We report a rare case of intracranial intrasellar kissing carotid arteries in a 57-years-old woman that was submitted to a computed tomography angiography during investigation of a sudden headache, and to discuss the clinical relevance of this radiological finding.

Symptomatic thoracic spinal cord compression caused by postsurgical pseudomeningocele.

We report the first case of symptomatic thoracic spinal cord compression caused by postsurgical pseudomeningocele. A 49-year-old man sought treatment for progressive loss of strength in the lower extremities ten months after full neurological recovery for a thoracic (T11) intradural-extramedullary schwannoma. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a postsurgical thoracic (T11-T12) pseudomeningocele.

Primary meningeal Burkitt-type lymphoma presenting as the first clinical manifestation of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

The purpose of this study is to report a rare case of primary meningeal high grade Burkitt-type lymphoma presenting as the first clinical manifestation of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. A 38-year-old Caucasian man, with a negative past medical history, sought treatment after experiencing global headache for five days. CT-Scan revealed a right front-temporo-parietal hyperdense subdural expansive mass.

Vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia as a cause of trigeminal neuralgia: the role of microvascular decompression. Case report.

Our purpose is to report a case of trigeminal neuralgia caused by vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia treated with microvascular decompression. A 63-year-old man sought treatment for a recurrent lancinating left facial pain in V2 and V3 trigeminal territories. The computed tomography angiography revealed a mechanical compression of the left trigeminal nerve due to vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia.

Stereotactic computed tomography-guided brain biopsy: diagnostic yield based on a series of 170 patients.

Background: Stereotactic CT-guided biopsy is a valuable and safe procedure for diagnosing intracranial lesions. The objectives of this article are to analyze the diagnostic yield in a series of stereotactic CT-guided brain biopsies and to evaluate whether predictive factors may influence diagnostic yield.

Methods: The medical records of a series of patients who underwent stereotactic CT-guided brain biopsy from 1993 to 2005 in a neurosurgical center were reviewed.

Early surgical treatment of nonsyndromic craniosynostosis.

Background: Craniosynostosis, a premature fusion of cranial sutures, can happen as an isolated defect (nonsyndromic) or as part of a syndrome. It may lead to raised intracranial pressure and deformity of both the cranial and facial skeletons. Early surgery is usually the best treatment choice.