Surgical treatment for chronic subdural hematoma in the elderly: A retrospective analysis.

Background: Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) is primarily a disease of the elderly. Less invasive interventions are often offered for elderly (> 80 years) patients due to concerns for elevated surgical risk, although data suggesting a clear outcome benefit is lacking.

Methods: All patients aged 65 years or older who underwent surgical treatment for CSDH at a single institution over a 4-year period were evaluated in this retrospective analysis.

Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy and Endoscopic Intracranial Cyst Fenestration in an Outpatient Ambulatory Surgery Center Yields Reduced Cost But Equal Efficacy and Safety Compared with Surgery in the Hospital.

Background: A transition is underway in neurosurgery to perform relatively safe surgeries outpatient, often at ambulatory surgery centers (ASC). We sought to evaluate whether simple intracranial endoscopic procedures such as third ventriculostomy and cyst fenestration can be safely and effectively performed at an ASC, while comparing costs with the hospital.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed for patients who underwent elective intracranial neuroendoscopic (NE) intervention at either a quaternary hospital or an affiliated ASC between August 2014 and September 2017.

Preoperative Acetazolamide Challenge in Pediatric Chiari I Malformation.

Purpose: In patients who present with headaches and Chiari 1 malformation without cranial nerve or brainstem dysfunction or syrinx formation, the decision to decompress can be difficult to make. We present a case series examining the use of acetazolamide as a diagnostic aid to determine candidacy for decompression.

Methods: A single pediatric neurosurgeon's (M.

Outpatient anterior cervical discectomy and fusion in the ambulatory surgery center setting: safety assessment for the Medicare population.

Objective: Several studies have demonstrated that anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) surgery in the outpatient versus hospital setting provides improved efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and patient satisfaction without a compromise in safety or outcome. Recent anecdotal reports, however, have questioned whether outpatient ACDF surgery is safe in the > 65-year-old Medicare population. To date, no clinical study has assessed the safety of outpatient ACDF in an ambulatory surgery center (ASC), specifically in a Medicare population.

Neuronal units linked to microvascular modules in cerebral cortex: response elements for imaging the brain.

How neuronal activity changes cerebral blood flow is of biological and practical importance. The rodent whisker-barrel system has special merits as a model for studies of changes in local cerebral blood flow (LCBF). Stimulus-evoked changes in neural firing and 'intrinsic signals' recorded through a cranial window were used to define regions of interest for repeated flow measurements.

Rapid optical imaging of whisker responses in the rat barrel cortex.

Videomicroscopy was used to image 'intrinsic' responses over the rat barrel cortex through a closed cranial window during controlled whisker stimulation. With a Macintosh IIfx running Image 1.49 VDM, video frames from a CCD camera were captured and averaged before, during and after whisker stimulation.

Intrasellar abscess following transsphenoidal surgery.

Background: Intrasellar abscess following transsphenoidal surgery has been described only twice in the English language medical literature. Overall mortality associated with intrasellar abscesses is 51%, while mortality in reported cases not treated surgically is 100%.

Methods: Two cases of intrasellar abscess following uncomplicated transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary pathology are reported.

Early postoperative magnetic resonance imaging following nonneoplastic cortical resection.

Postcraniotomy residual tumor is often determined by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Magnetic resonance changes that occur in the postoperative setting must be defined to ensure both the optimum timing of postoperative image acquisition and the accurate assessment of images for residual tumor. Postoperative changes in nontumor parenchyma have previously been described for computerized tomography but not for MR imaging.

Intraoperative transligamentous ultrasound in the evaluation of thoracic intraspinal disease. Technique.

Study Design: Intraoperative transligamentous ultrasonography was used in a variety of different thoracic surgical procedures for spinal cord compression secondary to neoplastic disease.

Objectives: The utility and practicality of intraoperative transligamentous ultrasonography for thoracic intraspinal disease was evaluated.

Summary Of Background Data: Because intraoperative localization and evaluation of targeted levels in the thoracic spine using radiographs is often difficult or imprecise, alternative or complementary techniques may be helpful.

Fast spin-echo magnetic resonance imaging for radiological assessment of neonatal brachial plexus injury.

Neurosurgical management of birth-related brachial plexus palsy involves observing the patient for a period of several months. Operative intervention is usually undertaken at 3 to 6 months of age or more in infants who have shown little or no improvement in affected muscle groups. Ancillary tests such as electromyography and nerve conduction studies are occasionally useful.

Review of magnetic neurosurgery research.

Image guided surgical techniques are often used to provide useful localizing information during the course of otherwise "standard" surgical procedures. In this review, a magnetic surgery system (MSS) is described that couples image guidance methods with a novel magnetic treatment delivery system. The MSS was designed with the unique capacity to manipulate an implant remotely, to follow complex curvilinear paths, and to implement serial movements over time without reoperation.