[Vertebroplasty for chronic back pain due to osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures].

Objective: Evidence regarding percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV) for chronic painful osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs) remains limited. To compare pain relief, quality of life, and disability between PV and active control (anesthetic infiltration) interventions for chronic OVCF.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

The spine intra-abdominal pressure (SIAP) trial. A prospective, observational, single arm, monocenter study looking at the evolutions of the IAP prior, during and after spine surgery.

Background And Aims: Both anaesthesiologists and spine surgeons consider the intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) as an important peri-operative factor affected by patient positioning. We assessed the change in IAP caused by using a thoraco pelvic support (inflatable prone support, IPS) with the subject under general anesthesia. The IAP was measured before, during and immediately after surgery.

Risk Factors and Management of Incisional Cerebrospinal Fluid Leakage After Craniotomy: A Retrospective International Multicenter Study.

Background: Incisional cerebrospinal fluid (iCSF) leakage is a serious complication after intradural cranial surgery.

Objective: To determine the incidence and risk factors of iCSF leakage after craniotomy. Secondarily, the complications after iCSF leakage and the success rate of iCSF leakage treatment was studied.

Surgeons Learning Curve of Transforaminal Endoscopic Discectomy for Sciatica.

Objective: Full-endoscopic spine surgery is gaining interest as a less-invasive alternative to treat sciatica caused by a lumbar disc herniation. Concerns, however, exist with the learning curve as percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy (PTED) appears to be more difficult to be performed compared to other techniques. In this study, the clinical outcomes during and after the learning curve are presented of 3 surgeons naïve to PTED.

Assessing the Learning Process of Transforaminal Endoscopic Discectomy for Sciatica.

Objective: Percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy (PTED) is gaining popularity by both surgeons and patients as a less invasive treatment option for sciatica. Concerns, however, exist for its learning curve. No previous study has assessed the learning process of PTED.

Evaluate the safety and efficacy of dura sealant patch in reducing cerebrospinal fluid leakage following elective cranial surgery (ENCASE II): study protocol for a randomized, two-arm, multicenter trial.

Background: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage is a frequent and challenging complication in neurosurgery, especially in the posterior fossa, with a prevalence of 8%. It is associated with substantial morbidity and increased healthcare costs. A novel dural sealant patch (LIQOSEAL) was developed for watertight dural closure.

Body Image and Cosmesis after Percutaneous Transforaminal Endoscopic Discectomy versus Conventional Open Microdiscectomy for Sciatica.

Study Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy (PTED) was introduced as a less invasive procedure to treat sciatica. Even though the PTED has a small scar size, it is unknown if PTED also leads to better scar-related patient-reported outcomes.

Full endoscopic versus open discectomy for sciatica: randomised controlled non-inferiority trial.

Objective: To assess whether percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy (PTED) is non-inferior to conventional open microdiscectomy in reduction of leg pain caused by lumbar disc herniation.

Design: Multicentre randomised controlled trial with non-inferiority design.

Setting: Four hospitals in the Netherlands.

Cost-effectiveness of full endoscopic versus open discectomy for sciatica.

Objective: To assess the costs and cost-effectiveness of percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy (PTED) compared with open microdiscectomy among patients with sciatica.

Methods: This economic evaluation was conducted alongside a 12-month multicentre randomised controlled trial with a non-inferiority design, in which patients were randomised to PTED or open microdiscectomy. Patients were aged from 18 to 70 years and had at least 6 weeks of radiating leg pain caused by lumbar disc herniation.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Validation of the Dutch Version of the Core Outcome Measures Index for the Neck in Patients Undergoing Surgery for Degenerative Disease of the Cervical Spine.

Objective: To perform the psychometric validation of the Dutch version of the Core Outcome Measures Index (COMI) for the neck.

Methods: A total of 178 patients, who had an indication for surgery due to degenerative cervical spinal disease, were enrolled in the study. They filled in a baseline booklet containing the Dutch version of the COMI-neck, Likert-scales for neck and arm/shoulder pain, the Neck Disability Index (NDI), the EuroQol-5 dimensions (EQ-5D) and the 12-item Short Form health survey (SF-12).

Patient preferences for treatment of lumbar disc herniation: a discrete choice experiment.

Objective: Lumbar discectomy is a frequently performed procedure to treat sciatica caused by lumbar disc herniation. Multiple surgical techniques are available, and the popularity of minimally invasive surgical techniques is increasing worldwide. Clinical outcomes between these techniques may not show any substantial differences.

Single-arm, open-label, multicentre first in human study to valuate the safety and performae of dur sealant patch in reducing CF leakag following elective cranial surgery: the ENCASE trial.

Objective: The dural sealant patch (DSP) is designed for watertight dural closure after cranial surgery. The goal of this study is to assess, for the first time, safety and performance of the DSP as a means of reducing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage in patients undergoing elective cranial intradural surgery with a dural closure procedure.

Design: First in human, open-label, single-arm, multicentre study with 360-day (12 months) follow-up.

Ceramic 3D-Printed Titanium Cranioplasty.

Study Design: Inlay cranioplasties following partial craniectomy in tumor or trauma cases and onlay cranioplasties for reconstructions of residual developmental skull anomalies are frequently performed using CAD-CAM techniques.

Objective: In this case series, we present a novel cranial implant design, being a combination of 3D-printed titanium grade 23 and calcium phosphate paste (CeTi).

Methods: The titanium patient-specific implant, manufactured using selective laser melting, has a latticed border with interconnected micropores.

Single-Arm, Open-Label, Multicenter Study to Evaluate the Safety and Performance of Dura Sealant Patch in Reducing Cerebrospinal Fluid Leakage Following Elective Cranial Surgery: The ENCASE Trial Study Protocol.

Background: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage is one of the most common neurosurgical complications, occurring in 4% to 32% of surgical cases, with a higher incidence in complicated skull base surgery, intradural spine surgery, and the surgery of the posterior fossa. Our group developed a Dural Sealant Patch (DSP) for watertight dural closure after cranial surgery.

Objective: To clinically study for the first time the safety and performance of the DSP as a means of reducing CSF leakage in patients undergoing elective cranial intradural surgery with a dural closure procedure.

Cognitive functioning in patients with nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma before and after endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery.

Objective: Patients with nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) can suffer from cognitive dysfunction. However, the literature on longitudinal cognitive follow-up of patients undergoing endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery (EETS) is limited. This study was performed to investigate perioperative cognitive status and course in patients with NFPAs.

Factors related to failure of autologous cranial reconstructions after decompressive craniectomy.

Purpose: Cranioplasty is customary after decompressive craniectomy. Many different materials have been developed and used for this procedure. The ideal material does not yet exist, while complication rates in cranioplasties remain high.

The significance of intra-abdominal pressure in neurosurgery and neurological diseases: a narrative review and a conceptual proposal.

Intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) is a physiological parameter that has gained considerable attention during the last few decades. The incidence of complications arising from increased IAP, known as intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) or abdominal compartment syndrome in critically ill patients, is high and its impact is significant. The effects of IAP in neurological conditions and during surgical procedures are largely unexplored.

How I do it: percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy for lumbar disk herniation.

Background: Percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy (PTED) has emerged as a less invasive technique to treat symptomatic lumbar disk herniation (LDH). PTED is performed under local anesthesia with the advantage of immediate intraoperative feedback of the patient. In this paper, the technique is described as conducted in our hospital.

Simulating Internal Carotid Artery Injury during Transsphenoidal Transclival Endoscopic Surgery in a Perfused Cadaver Model.

 Managing internal carotid artery (ICA) injury during extended endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery is an extreme challenge. We aimed to find a possible surgical treatment strategy.  We operated seven fresh, perfused cadaver heads with a transsphenoidal endoscopic approach of the ICA using a three-dimensional-high definition (3D-HD) endoscope.

Effects of sterilization on the mechanical properties of poly(methyl methacrylate) based personalized medical devices.

Background: Nowadays, personalized medical devices are frequently used for patients. Due to the manufacturing procedure sterilization is required. How different sterilization methods affect the mechanical behavior of these devices is largely unknown.

Treatment of Nonfunctional Pituitary Adenoma Postoperative Remnants: Adjuvant or Delayed Gamma Knife Radiosurgery?

Objective: It is still not clear whether Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) for nonfunctional pituitary adenomas should be used as a standard adjuvant postoperative therapy or applied when there is documented progression of the remnant on follow-up magnetic resonance imaging.

Methods: We performed a retrospective study of patients with nonfunctional pituitary adenomas who underwent primary surgery and GKRS between 2002 and 2015. Patients were divided into 2 groups on the basis of the GKRS indication: adjuvant treatment (GKRS ≤6 months postoperatively) or delayed treatment (GKRS if documented progression occurred on the follow-up magnetic resonance imaging).

Outcome in patient-specific PEEK cranioplasty: A two-center cohort study of 40 implants.

Objective: The best material choice for cranioplasty following craniectomy remains a subject to discussion. Complication rates after cranioplasty tend to be high. Computer-assisted 3-dimensional modelling of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) was recently introduced for cranial reconstruction.

Corticosteroid treatment buys time in case of a newly diagnosed hypophysitis with visual deterioration.

Hypophysitis is an important differential diagnosis for a pituitary mass, especially in young women at the end of or shortly after pregnancy. It commonly results in hypopituitarism and can be differentiated from adenoma on MRI. Typical MRI characteristics of hypophysitis are symmetry, loss of posterior bright spot, intense and homogeneous gadolinium enhancement, a thickened pituitary stalk and intact sellar floor.

Superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery bypass surgery in a pediatric giant intracranial aneurysm presenting as migraine-like episodes.

Introduction: Aneurysms of the intracranial arteries in the pediatric population are reportedly rare. There is a male predominance, association with connective tissue disorders, as well as bacterial, mycotic infections, and trauma.

Results And Discussion: Common sites of presentation are the internal carotid artery bifurcation, posterior circulation, and distal segment of middle cerebral artery.

Endovascular treatment of a giant petrous internal carotid artery aneurysm. Case report and review of the literature.

Expansive aneurysms of the petrous internal carotid artery are rare. Compressive and thrombembolic neurological deficits and occasionally extradural haemorrhage in combination with a pulsatile tinnitus are most important and alarming symptoms. Due to its extradural location, subarachnoid haemorrhage does not occur.