Anatomical Predictors of Transcranial Surgical Access to the Suprasellar Space.

 The suprasellar space is a common location for intracranial lesions. The position of the optic chiasm (prefixed vs. postfixed) results in variable sizes of operative corridors and is thus important to identify when choosing a surgical approach to this region.

Surgical Resection of Clinoidal Meningiomas without Routine Use of Clinoidectomy.

Objective: Meningiomas of the anterior clinoid process (ACP) present significant surgical challenges given their anatomic relation to critical neurovascular structures. Routine anterior clinoidectomy is often described as a critical step in the resection of these tumors to reduce recurrence and improve visual outcomes. Anterior clinoidectomy, however, is not without risk and its benefits have not been clearly delineated.

Spontaneous Otogenic Pneumocephalus: Case Series and Update on Management.

 This study is aimed to report the largest independent case series of spontaneous otogenic pneumocephalus (SOP) and review its pathophysiology, clinical presentation, and treatment.  Four patients underwent a middle cranial fossa approach for repair of the tegmen tympani and tegmen mastoideum. A comprehensive review of the literature regarding this disease entity was performed.

Repair of Temporal Bone Defects via the Middle Cranial Fossa Approach: Treatment of 2 Pathologies With 1 Operation.

Background: Temporal bone dehiscence (TBD) often results in leakage of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and/or encephalocele. TBD can also occur over the superior semicircular canal, causing debilitating vertigo. Both can be repaired surgically, but traditional treatment is focused only on one pathology, not both.

Identification of the stria medullaris thalami using diffusion tensor imaging.

Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) via anatomical targeting of white matter tracts defined by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) may be a useful tool in the treatment of pathologic neurophysiologic circuits implicated in certain disease states like treatment resistant depression (TRD). We sought to determine if DTI could be used to define the stria medullaris thalami (SM), the major afferent white matter pathway to the lateral habenula (LHb), a thalamic nucleus implicated in the pathophysiology of TRD.

Methods: Probabilistic DTI was performed on ten cerebral hemispheres in five patients who underwent preoperative MRI for DBS surgery.

RhoA/Rho Kinase Mediates Neuronal Death Through Regulating cPLA Activation.

Activation of RhoA/Rho kinase leads to growth cone collapse and neurite retraction. Although RhoA/Rho kinase inhibition has been shown to improve axon regeneration, remyelination and functional recovery, its role in neuronal cell death remains unclear. To determine whether RhoA/Rho kinase played a role in neuronal death after injury, we investigated the relationship between RhoA/Rho kinase and cytosolic phospholipase A (cPLA), a lipase that mediates inflammation and cell death, using an in vitro neuronal death model and an in vivo contusive spinal cord injury model performed at the 10th thoracic (T10) vertebral level.