Nasal glial heterotopia: A rare interdisciplinary surgical challenge in newborns.

Nasal Glioma (NG) represents a rare congenital abnormality of the neonate, which can be associated with skull defects or even a direct communication to the central nervous system. MRI serves valuable information for differentiation from encephalocele, dermoid cyst and congenital hemangioma. Complete resection remains the treatment of choice.

The (mis)perception of sleep: factors influencing the discrepancy between self-reported and objective sleep parameters.

Study Objectives: Self-reported perception of sleep often differs from objective sleep study measures, but factors predicting the discrepancy between self-reported and objective sleep parameters are controversial, and a comparison of laboratory vs ambulatory polysomnography (PSG) is lacking.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed PSGs conducted between 2012 and 2016. Linear regression was applied to predict the discrepancy between self-reported and objective sleep parameters (total sleep time, sleep efficiency, sleep latency, using age, sex, arousal index, type of sleep disorder, and PSG type [laboratory vs ambulatory] as regressors).

Silencing of protein kinase D2 induces glioma cell senescence via p53-dependent and -independent pathways.

Background: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a highly aggressive tumor of the central nervous system with a dismal prognosis for affected patients. Aberrant protein kinase C (PKC) signaling has been implicated in gliomagenesis, and a member of the PKC-activated protein kinase D (PRKD) family, PRKD2, was identified as mediator of GBM growth in vitro and in vivo.

Methods: The outcome of PRKD2 silencing and pharmacological inhibition on glioma cell proliferation was established with different glioma cell lines.

On the role of 25-hydroxycholesterol synthesis by glioblastoma cell lines. Implications for chemotactic monocyte recruitment.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common malignant primary brain tumor and is invariably fatal to affected patients. Oxysterols belong to a class of bioactive lipids that are implicated in neurological disease and are associated with various types of cancer. Here, we investigated expression and transcriptional regulation of cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (CH25H) in human U87MG and GM133 glioblastoma cell lines.

Ictal fear auras after selective amygdalohippocampectomy: the use of ictal SPECT and scalp EEG in the presurgical reevaluation.

The perception of fear aura in complex partial seizures is linked to epileptic discharges within mesial temporal lobe structures. Although selective amygdalohippocampectomy often leads to favorable seizure control, persistence of fear auras after surgery can hamper quality of life significantly. We describe two patients with persistent fear auras after selective amygdalohippocampectomy who had to be reevaluated for a second operative procedure.

Recurrent Pott's puffy tumor - atypical presentation of a rare disorder.

We report the case of a 14-year-old girl who presented with an 8-week history of unilateral pansinusitis. In the course of the disease a right-side frontal swelling was observed, which disappeared following antibiotic treatment. Four weeks later, however, the swelling reappeared and was now diagnosed as recurrent Pott's puffy tumor.

Medulloblastoma in a child with down syndrome: long-term remission with multimodality treatment.

A 4(3/4)-year-old male with Down syndrome (DS) presented with unsteady gait and fatigue. Neuroimaging revealed a cerebellar mass with concomitant obstructive hydrocephalus and additional metastatic lesions. He was successfully treated and is still in complete remission 5 years from diagnosis.

Intracerebral cavernous hemangioma after cranial irradiation in childhood. Incidence and risk factors.

Background And Purpose: Radiotherapy is an integral part of various therapeutic regimens in pediatric and adult oncology. Endocrine dysfunction, neurologic and psychiatric deficits, secondary malignancies and radiation-induced necrosis are well-known possible late effects of cranial irradiation. However, only sporadic cases of radiation-induced cavernous hemangiomas (RICH) have been reported so far.

Chiari I malformation and intra-cranial hypertension:a case-based review.

Objective: To present clinical and morphological findings before and after surgery in a child with Chairi I malformation (CMI) and intra-cranial hypertension (IH). The literature is reviewed and pathophysiologic factors are discussed.

Clinical Presentation: A 13-year-old obese boy with a 3-week history of headaches, neck pain, torticollis and progressive visual deterioration was admitted.

Automatic and remote controlled ictal SPECT injection for seizure focus localization by use of a commercial contrast agent application pump.

Purpose: In the presurgical evaluation of patients with partial epilepsy, the ictal single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is a useful noninvasive diagnostic tool for seizure focus localization. To achieve optimal SPECT scan quality, ictal tracer injection should be carried out as quickly as possible after the seizure onset and under highest safety conditions possible. Compared to the commonly used manual injection, an automatic administration of the radioactive tracer may provide higher quality standards for this procedure.

Efficacy and safety of radiosurgical callosotomy: a retrospective analysis.

Purpose: Anterior callosotomy is a surgical option for the treatment of generalized tonic or atonic seizures associated with drop attacks. Besides open surgery, a radiosurgical callosal disconnection using the gamma knife (GK) also can be performed, but reliable data about tolerability and efficacy are sparse.

Methods: Eight patients (three female, five male age range, 5 to 69 years) with severe generalized epilepsy associated with disabling drop attacks underwent GK callosotomy between 1993 and 2004.

Gamma knife radiosurgery for callosotomy in children with drug-resistant epilepsy.

Objectives: Gamma knife radiosurgery as a noninvasive procedure is increasingly used as a treatment option in patients with intractable seizures. We investigated efficacy and safety of gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) for callosotomy in children.

Materials And Methods: Between 2000 and 2004 three children between 4 and 14 years (mean 8 years) underwent radiosurgical callosotomy.

No effect of immunomodulatory therapy in focal epilepsy with positive glutamate receptor type 3--antibodies.

Antibodies against the glutamate receptor type 3-(GluR3) have been found in association with Rasmussen's encephalitis (RE) but were also detected in patients with non-inflammatory focal epilepsies. We report the case of an 18-year-old patient with treatment refractory left mesial temporal lobe epilepsy accompanied by high levels of GluR3 antibodies. Different from experiences in patients with RE immunomodulatory therapy by use of intravenous gammaglobulines neither altered GluR3 serum levels nor had any effect on seizure frequency in our patient.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for the treatment of brain abscess in children.

Introduction: The treatment of brain abscess remains a challenging topic usually involving a multimodal concept.

Methods: We report our experience with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy in five children presenting with brain abscesses between 1995 and 2002 at the Department of Neurosurgery, Graz. Mean age was 14.

CSF shunts in children: endoscopically-assisted placement of the distal catheter.

Objectives: Ventriculoperitoneal shunting is the most common treatment for hydrocephalus. Repeated shunt revisions and other previous surgical procedures can complicate the placement of the distal catheter. Occasionally, when conventional sites like the abdominal cavity and the right atrium are used up or unavailable, a ventriculopleural shunt can be inserted.

Treatment of hydrocephalus determined by the European Orbis Sigma Valve II survey: a multicenter prospective 5-year shunt survival study in children and adults in whom a flow-regulating shunt was used.

Object: The goal of this study was to evaluate the long-term results of a flow-regulating shunt (Orbis Sigma Valve [OSV] II Smart Valve System; Integra NeuroSciences, Sophia Antipolis, France) in the treatment of hydrocephalus, whether it was a first insertion procedure or surgical revision of another type of shunt, in everyday clinical practice in a multicenter prospective study.

Methods: Patients of any age who had hydrocephalus underwent implantation of an OSV II system. The primary end point of the study was defined as any shunt-related surgery.

Clinical value of amplitude-coded colour Doppler sonography in paediatric neurosonography.

Objective: The object of this study was to evaluate the potential of amplitude-coded colour Doppler sonography (aCDS) in paediatric neurosonography from the aspects of clinical value and impact.

Patients And Methods: Sixty neonates, infants, and children underwent 72 aCDS investigations after conventional ultrasound (US) studies including conventional colour Doppler. Their diagnoses included tumours, hydrocephalus and cerebral fluid collections, cerebral vascular disorders, cerebral bleeds and hypoxic-ischaemic lesions.

Cooling abolishes neuronal network synchronization in rat hippocampal slices.

Purpose: We sought to determine whether cooling brain tissue from 34 to 21 degrees C could abolish tetany-induced neuronal network synchronization (gamma oscillations) without blocking normal synaptic transmission.

Methods: Intracellular and extracellular electrodes recorded activity in transverse hippocampal slices (450-500 microm) from Sprague-Dawley male rats, maintained in an air-fluid interface chamber. Gamma oscillations were evoked by afferent stimulation at 100 Hz for 200 ms.