Object: Optimal surgical technique to restore the cerebrospinal fluid flow through the foramen magnum remains to be debated in Chiari malformation type 1 (CM-1) patients.
Method: This study included 46 patients with CM-1 who underwent surgical treatment by one of two methods: posterior fossa bone decompression (BD) with arachnoid preserving duraplasty (Group 1) and BD with duraplasty and arachnoid dissection (Group 2). Complaints of the patient population and neurological findings were assessed with Neck Disability Index (NDI) and Europe Quality of Life 5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) in pre- and postoperative periods.
Objective: Fluorescein sodium (FNa) videoangiography (VA) was performed to evaluate blood flow within vessels and exclusion of the aneurysm after surgical clipping of intracranial aneurysms. The aim of this study was to report results of FNa-VA in a case series, including benefits and limitations of the technique, and compare intraoperative findings with postoperative cerebral angiography to assess reliability of FNa-VA.
Methods: The study included 64 aneurysms in 50 consecutive patients.
Chondrosarcoma, a malignant bone tumor, is rarely encountered in the cervical spine. This article describes a patient whose neck pain and dysphagia were caused by an expansive, destructive lesion with calcification that was located in the body of the axis (C2 vertebra), the first time a chondrosarcoma has been reported in this location.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The corpus callosotomy (CCT) has been reported as an effective procedure to alleviate drop attacks. However, the extent of CCT remains debatable. Classical studies suggest that motor fibers traverse mainly through the anterior half of the corpus callosum (CC), although recent diffusion tensor imaging studies described that motor fibers crossed the CC in a more posterior location, emphasizing the posterior midbody and the isthmus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: There are no established guidelines for treatment of Spetzler-Martin grade III-V brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVMs). The purpose of this study is to report our institutional experience in total obliteration/eradication of grade III-V bAVMs by single-stage planning of embolization combined with microsurgical resection when necessary.
Methods: All patients harboring Spetzler-Martin (S-M) grade III-V bAVMs treated with single-stage planning between January 2006 and January 2018 were retrospectively reviewed.
Objectives: We aimed to evaluate balance using the Tetrax Interactive Balance System (TIBS) in patients with Chiari type I malformation (CM-I) and to assess their fall risk with other clinical parameters.
Patients And Methods: This cross-sectional, prospective study was conducted at physical medicine and rehabilitation outpatient clinics and neurosurgery department of a university hospital between December 2013 and December 2014. The study included a total of 36 patients (31 females, 5 males; mean age 40.
Aim: To present the results of endoscopic endonasal repair of ventral midline skull base cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak (VMSBL) at our institution and to discuss the technique and results from a neurosurgical perspective.
Material And Methods: A retrospective analysis of all VMSBL cases that underwent endoscopic endonasal skull base approach (EESBA) for CSF leak repair at a single tertiary neurosurgical center was performed. Twenty six patients with an average age of 44.
Aim: Awake craniotomy (AC) with electrical cortical stimulation has become popular during the last ten years although the basic principles were introduced almost 50 years ago. The aim of this paper is to share with the readers our experience in 25 patients who underwent AC with electrical stimulation.
Material And Methods: Twenty-five patients who underwent AC between 2010 and 2013 are the subjects of this paper.
Object: Promising clinical results were reported in watertight closure of anterior skull base defects (ASBDs) with bisphenol-a-glycidyl-dimethacrylate (bis-GMA)-based materials to prevent the cerebrospinal fluid leaks. However, interrelation of these materials with surrounding bones in histologic level, referred to as the osteointegration, has not been reported in the anterior skull base. In addition, an illustrative case with an ASBD that was repaired using a bis-GMA composite has been presented.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: To present the combined treatment of fusiform basilar artery aneurysms consisting of a surgical posterior fossa decompressive craniectomy and ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt operation at the same sitting, before the endovascular procedure with telescopic stenting of the aneurysmatic vessel segment in four cases.
Methods: Combined treatment involving surgical procedure consisting of ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement for hydrocephalus and an occipital bone craniectomy and C1 vertebrae posterior laminectomy to decompress the posterior fossa in the same session. After surgery, the patients were loaded with acetylsalicylic acid and clopidogrel, and then the endovascular treatment was performed.
In this article, the authors are presenting their experience and the results with the surgical treatment of intraorbital intraconal tumors based on a review of 33 constitutive cases. Our data were evaluated in comparison to other major series, and possible factors that might influence surgical outcome and survival are discussed. Thirty-three patients diagnosed with intraorbital intraconal tumors between 1998 and 2009 were treated by transcranial approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCranioplasty is the surgical intervention to repair cranial defects. The aim of cranioplasty is not only a cosmetic issue; also, the repair of cranial defects gives relief to psychological drawbacks and increases the social performances. Many different types of materials were used throughout the history of cranioplasty.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrimary fourth ventricle meningiomas are extremely rare, and they are defined as meningiomas arising from the choroid plexus and lying strictly within the fourth ventricle. In this report we present a 61-year-old man with progressive worsening vertigo and gait disturbance, and new onset of diplopia. Neurological examination revealed bilateral abducens nerve paralysis, horizontal nystagmus, and gait disturbance with truncal ataxia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this article, the authors are presenting their experience and the results with combined craniofacial resection of anterior skull base tumors based on a review of 27 constitutive cases. Our data are evaluated in comparison to other major centers in other parts of the world, and possible factors that might influence surgical outcome and survival are discussed. Twenty-seven patients diagnosed with anterior skull base tumors between 1999 and 2009 were treated by combined craniofacial resection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The objective of this study was to review the endoscopic anatomy of the anterior skull base, defining the pitfalls of endoscopic endonasal approaches to this region. Recently, these approaches are gaining popularity among neurosurgeons, and the details of the endoscopic anatomy and approaches are highlighted from the neurosurgeons' point of view, correlated with demonstrative cases.
Materials And Methods: Twelve fresh adult cadavers were studied (n = 12).
Objective: The anterior skull base is a location of many pathologic lesions. These pathologic lesions are treated by bifrontal craniotomy and anterior skull base approach, either primarily or combined with facial osteotomies. To obtain wide exposure, low-profile craniotomies are preferred.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: In growing skull fractures with large calvarial defects, it is difficult to use autografts for reconstruction and it requires alternative materials for cranioplasty. In this report, the authors describe their experience and introduce reconstruction of the growing skull fractures' defects with a porous polyethylene sheet (Medpor) and with a novel technique of duraplasty with in situ galeal graft, which avoid the potentially risky dissection and exposure of brain tissue. The goal of this study was to clarify effective surgical methods and to provide the rationale for these techniques.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN or h-channel) channels mediate hyperpolarization-activating currents in the hippocampus and neocortex. The aim of this study is to present prenatal h-channel gene expressions (HCN1 and HCN2; HCN1-Entrez-Gene ID: 84390; HCN2- Entrez Gene ID: 114244) in dysplastic hippocampal pyramidal neurons induced by in utero irradiation in rats.
Materials And Methods: Time-pregnant Wistar albino rats were irradiated and the dysplastic hippocampus in their 2 month-old litters was studied.
Aim: Surgical resection of lesions involving the dominant supplementary motor area (SMA) may result in immediate postoperative motor and speech deficits which in most cases are reversible.We report 12 patients with frontal lesions involving the SMA and aim to analyse the clinical data and the correlation of neurological deficit with the extent of SMA resection.
Material And Methods: 12 patients (5M/7F, mean age 30.
Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1alpha) is the major transcriptional factor involved in the adaptive response to hypoxia. The aim of this study was to assess HIF-1alpha in 22 patients with transitional meningioma (TM) and 26 patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). HIF-1alpha was assessed using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-based HIF-1 transcription factor assay.
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