One- vs Two-Burr-Hole Technique for Combined Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy and Pineal Region Biopsy: Volumetric Analysis of Brain at Risk.

Background: Pineal region tumors are associated with the ventricular system. Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) is often performed at the same time as tumor biopsy.

Objective: To investigate the volume of brain possibly undergoing injury and forniceal stretching during ETV and tumor biopsy.

Endoscopic approach to colloid cyst: what is the optimal entry point and trajectory?

Objectives: An optimal entry point and trajectory for endoscopic colloid cyst (ECC) resection helps to protect important neurovascular structures. There is a large discrepancy in the entry point and trajectory in the neuroendoscopic literature.

Methods: Trajectory views from MRI or CT scans used for cranial image guidance in 39 patients who had undergone ECC resection between July 2004 and July 2010 were retrospectively evaluated.

Metastatic involvement of the pituitary gland: a systematic review with pooled individual patient data analysis.

Purpose: To report a rare case of pituitary metastasis (PM) from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and help better understand the incidence of PM and its most common presenting symptoms through a pooled individual patient data analysis.

Methods: Literature regarding PM was systematically reviewed with a pooled individual patient data analysis conducted. Pooled individual data analysis result is also compared with the result in a most recent systematic review.

Alternative grafts in anterior cervical fusion.

Objective: The present retrospective study was conducted to compare the clinical and radiographic outcomes in patients undergoing anterior cervical discectomy with fusion (ACDF) using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) cages, or allograft.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed cases of ACDF using allograft in 20 patients, and CFRP in 19 who had sequential radiographs before and after surgery, and at 1 year.

Results: There were no apparent significant differences between the 2 groups in age (p=0.

[Applications of multi-micro-volume pressure-assisted derivatization reaction device for analysis of polar heterocyclic aromatic amines by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry].

A multi-micro-volume pressure-assisted derivatization reaction device has been designed and made for the silylation derivatization of polar heterocyclic aromatic amines by N-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl )-N-methyl-trifluoroacetamide (MTBSTFA) with 1% catalyst tert-butyldimethylchlorosilane (TBDMCS) at a high temperature. The tert-butyldimethylsilyl derivatives then could be automatically analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Using the pressure-assisted device, the silylation reaction may occur at a temperature higher than the boiling points of the reagents, and several micro-volume samples can be simultaneously pretreated in the same device to shorten the sample-preparation time and to improve the repeatability.

Sensory-motor interactions for vocal pitch monitoring in non-primary human auditory cortex.

The neural mechanisms underlying processing of auditory feedback during self-vocalization are poorly understood. One technique used to study the role of auditory feedback involves shifting the pitch of the feedback that a speaker receives, known as pitch-shifted feedback. We utilized a pitch shift self-vocalization and playback paradigm to investigate the underlying neural mechanisms of audio-vocal interaction.

Adjustment of the endoscopic third ventriculostomy entry point based on the anatomical relationship between coronal and sagittal sutures.

Object: The coronal suture is often used as an empirical landmark for the entry point for endoscopic third ventriculostomy. The trajectory for the approach is often drawn based on midsagittal MRI findings. However, because the coronal suture is not perpendicular to the midline, this method may be inaccurate.

Peripheral leukocytapheresis attenuates acute lung injury induced by lipopolysaccharide in vivo.

The mortality of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) remains high and efforts for prevention and treatments have shown little improvement over the past decades. The present study investigated the efficacy and mechanism of leukocytapheresis (LCAP) to partially eliminate peripheral neutrophils and attenuate lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lung injury in dogs. A total of 24 healthy male mongrel dogs were enrolled and randomly divided into LPS, LCAP and LCAP-sham groups.

Optimal entry point and trajectory for endoscopic third ventriculostomy: evaluation of 53 patients with volumetric imaging guidance.

Object: An optimal entry point for endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) helps protect critical structures from undue manipulation. A commonly accepted ideal entry point is 3 cm from the midline and 1 cm anterior to the coronal suture. The authors of this study reexamine this ideal entry point.

Human auditory cortical activation during self-vocalization.

During speaking, auditory feedback is used to adjust vocalizations. The brain systems mediating this integrative ability have been investigated using a wide range of experimental strategies. In this report we examined how vocalization alters speech-sound processing within auditory cortex by directly recording evoked responses to vocalizations and playback stimuli using intracranial electrodes implanted in neurosurgery patients.

A method for placing Heschl gyrus depth electrodes.

A wide range of devices is used to obtain intracranial electrocorticography recordings in patients with medically refractory epilepsy, including subdural strip and grid electrodes and depth electrodes. Penetrating depth electrodes are required to access some brain regions, and 1 target site that presents a particular technical challenge is the first transverse temporal gyrus, or Heschl gyrus (HG). The HG is located within the supratemporal plane and has an oblique orientation relative to the sagittal and coronal planes.