Outcome Features Analysis in Intramedullary Tumors of the Cervicomedullary Junction: A Surgical Series.

Object:  The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of surgery for different cervicomedullary lesions on symptomatic pattern expression and postoperative outcome. We focused on specific outcome features of the early and late postoperative assessments. The former relies on surgery-related transient and permanent morbidity and feasibility of radicality in eloquent areas, whereas the latter on long-term course in lower grade tumors and benign tumorlike lesions (cavernomas, etc.

Transoral Endoscopic Approach to Repair Early Pharyngeal Perforations After Anterior Cervical Spine Surgery without Failure of Instrumentation: Our Experience and Review of Literature.

Background: Pharyngoesophageal injury during anterior cervical spine surgery is a rare and potentially life-threatening complication; generally it is the result of intraoperative manipulation or hardware erosion and sometimes may be due to weakness of the pharyngoesophageal wall from pre-existing pathologic conditions, such as diabetes, gastritis, or obesity.

Case Description: We describe the management strategies in patients with an early postoperative hypopharyngeal perforation that occurred after anterior cervical spine surgery without failure of instrumentation, and we present a case treated endoscopically at our institution.

Conclusions: Appropriate treatment for pharyngoesophageal perforations is controversial and not investigated in detail.

The Role and Real Effect of an Iterative Surgical Approach for the Management of Recurrent High-Grade Glioma: An Observational Analytic Cohort Study.

Background: The benefits of multiple interventions on the recurrence of high-grade gliomas are renowned. However, the real effect of repeated operations on the survival parameters does not seem to have been assessed. The aim of the present study was to determine whether reoperation for selected patients is safe and feasible.

Extent of tumor removal and molecular markers in cerebral glioblastoma: a combined prognostic factors study in a surgical series of 105 patients.

Object: In this paper, the authors' goal was to evaluate the prognostic value of YKL-40 expression as a prognostic factor for glioblastomas and to compare its validity to the already known MGMT.

Methods: Between January 2002 and January 2007, 105 patients were treated for cerebral glioblastoma. The extent of removal was classified in 4 groups.

Extra central nervous system metastases from cerebral glioblastoma multiforme in elderly patients. Clinico-pathological remarks on our series of seven cases and critical review of the literature.

Aims And Background: The aim of the study was to evaluate the treatment of the extracranial metastases from glioblastoma multiforme in the elderly, discussing their uncommon occurrence and their pathogenesis.

Methods: The authors report seven cases of elderly patients (mean age, 69 years), with an initial diagnosis of cerebral glioblastoma multiforme, treated by a grossly total surgical removal and followed by adjuvant radiotherapy (64 Gy in 6 weeks, using Linac) and adjuvant chemotherapy (temozolomide both concomitant and sequential to radiotherapy).

Results: All patients presented a postoperative course characterized by good functional and clinical conditions (Karnofsky performance scale > or =70), which remained unchanged for a mean period of about 21 months (range, 16-23), with no neuroradiological signs of lesion regrowth.

Intramedullary cavernous angioma of the spinal cord in a pediatric patient, with multiple cavernomas, familial occurrence and partial spontaneous regression: case report and review of the literature.

Object: The authors present their experience with the 17th pediatric intramedullary cavernoma reported in English literature.

Methods: The patient firstly underwent surgery for a left frontal cavernoma when he was 2 years old. Also the child's mother was operated for a C2-C3 intramedullary cavernoma.