Publications by authors named "Dimitrios Kalaitzoglou"

Neuroplasticity is well established in low grade glioma patients. Less is known about functional plasticity in glioblastomas. A 56-year-old lady presented with a recurrent speech deficit seventeen months after her initial craniotomy for a language eloquent glioblastoma (GBM).

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Article Synopsis
  • Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical method for treating neurological disorders but can lead to surgical site infections (SSIs) as a complication, prompting a study on antibiotic-impregnated envelopes (AIEs) to reduce infection rates.
  • A retrospective analysis from January 2017 to May 2024 included 178 patients, showing significantly lower infection rates (1.7% with AIE vs. 5% without AIE) and a 2.9 times higher infection risk without AIE.
  • The findings suggest that AIEs not only reduced SSIs in both initial and replacement procedures but also resulted in considerable cost savings, highlighting their effectiveness in DBS surgeries.
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Navigated repetitive transmagnetic stimulation is a non-invasive and safe brain activity modulation technique. When combined with the classical rehabilitation process in stroke patients it has the potential to enhance the overall neurologic recovery. We present a case of a peri-operative stroke, treated with ultra-early low frequency navigated repetitive transmagnetic stimulation over the contralesional hemisphere.

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Background: Transsulcal tubular retractor-assisted minimally invasive parafascicular surgery changes the surgical strategy for deep-seated lesions by promoting a deficit-sparing approach. When integrated with preoperative brain mapping and intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM), this approach may potentially improve patient outcomes. In this study, we assessed the impact of preoperative brain mapping and IONM in tubular retractor-assisted neuro-oncological surgery.

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Surgical management of deep-seated brain tumors requires precise functional navigation and minimally invasive surgery. Preoperative mapping using navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS), intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM), and minimally invasive parafascicular surgery (MIPS) act together in a functional-sparing approach. nTMS also provides a rehabilitation tool to maximize functional recovery.

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Hypertrophic pachymeningitis is a rare disorder of the dura mater of the spine or brain. It can be caused by inflammatory, infective or neoplastic conditions or can be idiopathic. We report a man with hypertrophic pachymeningitis and bilateral chronic subdural haematoma caused by IgG4-related disease.

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MGMT promoter methylation is related to the increased sensitivity of tumour tissue to chemotherapy with temozolomide (TMZ) and thus to improved patient survival. However, it is unclear how the extent of MGMT promoter methylation affects outcomes. In our study, a single-centre retrospective study, we explore the impact of MGMT promoter methylation in patients with glioblastoma who were operated upon with 5-ALA.

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Background: Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma (SSEH) is a rare pathology, which carries a significant morbidity.

Objective: To review our institutional experience of surgically managed patients with SSEH, seeking to better understand clinical prognostic factors related to postoperative outcomes and thereby improve counseling of patients before treatment.

Methods: All patients who underwent surgical management of SSEH between September 2011 and 2021.

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Aims: Observational studies have investigated the effectiveness and safety of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) and vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) used in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis assessing the risk of ischaemic stroke, thromboembolism (TE) and intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) associated with the use of DOACs and VKAs.

Methods: Medline and Embase were systematically searched until April 2021.

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Purpose: Intramedullary spinal cord tumours (IMSCTs) are comparatively rare neoplasms. We present a single-centre clinical case series of adult patients with surgically managed IMSCTs.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of electronic patient records in the time period spanning July 2010 to July 2021.

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Background: Most of the randomized clinical trials that led to the wide use of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) originated from western countries.

Aim: To systematically review and quantitatively synthesize the real-world data regarding the efficacy and safety of dabigatran, rivaroxaban, and apixaban compared to warfarin for stroke prevention in Asian patients with non-valvular AF.

Methods: Medline, Cochrane, and ClinicalTrial.

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Background And Aims: Due to common pathophysiological findings of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with diabetes mellitus (DM), insulin has been suggested as a possible treatment of AD or mild cognitive impairment (MCI). A safe alternative of IV insulin is intranasal (IN) insulin. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the effects of IN insulin on cognitive function of patients with either AD or MCI.

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Cognitive impairment and dementia are established complications of heart failure (HF) in adult patients and impair medication adherence and self-care. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is suggested to play an independent role in the cognitive decline in patients with HF. The objective of this systematic review was to assess the effect of AF on cognitive function in these patients.

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