Clinical features and prognostic factors of patients with cancer-associated stroke.

Background: Cerebrovascular diseases in cancer patients significantly aggravate their condition and prognosis; therefore, prompt and accurate diagnosis and treatment are important. The purpose of this study was to investigate patient demographics, laboratory data, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, and prognosis among patients with stroke and cancer, especially cancer-associated ischemic stroke (CAIS).

Methods: We performed a retrospective, single-center study.

A Study of Maternal Patients Diagnosed with Inborn Errors of Metabolism Due to Positive Newborn Mass Screening in Their Newborns.

Background: There are reports of mothers being diagnosed with inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) via positive newborn screening (NBS) of their newborns. Mothers with IEM are often considered to have mild cases of little pathological significance. Based in Niigata Prefecture, this study aimed to investigate mothers newly diagnosed with IEM via positive NBS in their newborns using tandem mass spectrometry, and to clarify the disease frequency and severity.

Growth Hormone Injection Log Analysis with Electronic Injection Device for Qualifying Adherence to Low-Irritant Formulation and Exploring Influential Factors on Adherence.

Introduction: Although the treatment success of long-term growth hormone therapy (GHT) is dependent on maintaining patients' adherence to treatment, marked variations in adherence levels among children with GHT (eg, 7-71% nonadherence) have been reported. Barriers to or promoters of GHT adherence have been discussed and investigated, and digital health technologies, such as electronic GH injection devices, may have the potential to assess adherence to GHT more accurately. Thus, we conducted a multicenter, retrospective cohort study using GH injection log analysis of an electronic GH device, GROWJECTORL, to qualify adherence and explore the factors influencing adherence.

Correlation of T1- to T2-weighted signal intensity ratio with T1- and T2-relaxation time and IDH mutation status in glioma.

The current study aimed to test whether the ratio of T1-weighted to T2-weighted signal intensity (T1W/T2W ratio: rT1/T2) derived from conventional MRI could act as a surrogate relaxation time predictive of IDH mutation status in histologically lower-grade gliomas. Strong exponential correlations were found between rT1/T2 and each of T1- and T2-relaxation times in eight subjects (rT1/T2 = 1.63exp + 0.

Infantile-Onset Isolated Neurohypophyseal Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis with Central Diabetes Insipidus: A Case Report.

Central diabetes insipidus (CDI) is a rare disease in children and has a variety of etiologies. The major causes of CDI with pituitary stalk thickening (PST) are germinoma, Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), and Lymphocytic infundibulo-neurohypophysitis, which are difficult to differentiate by imaging and require pathological diagnosis. We report a case of infantile-onset isolated neurohypophyseal LCH diagnosed by pathological findings.

Epidural Blood Patch Using a Racz Catheter for Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension With Unclear Leak Points.

Using a Racz catheter (Brevi-XL™, Epimed Inc., NY, USA) to insert an epidural blood patch (EBP) may be an effective method of reaching the target epidural space in the cervical region. We would like to present a case, wherein a targeted EBP via Racz catheter was used in the management of spontaneous intracranial hypotension.

Re-Evaluation of the Prevalence of Permanent Congenital Hypothyroidism in Niigata, Japan: A Retrospective Study.

Although newborn screening (NBS) for congenital hypothyroidism (CH) in Japan started more than 40 years ago, the prevalence of CH remains unclear. Prevalence estimations among NBS-positive CH individuals include those with transient hypothyroidism and transient hyperthyrotropinemia, and re-evaluation with increasing age is necessary to clarify the actual incidence. Thus, we re-evaluated the incidence of permanent CH.

Regulation of Serum Sodium Levels during Chemotherapy Using Selective Arginine Vasopressin V2-Receptor Antagonist Tolvaptan in a Four-Year-Old Girl with a Suprasellar Germ Cell Tumor.

There are limited reports on the use of tolvaptan for syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) in children. Managing serum sodium levels in SIADH patients during chemotherapy is often difficult because of the need for massive fluid infusions. We report the course of the use of tolvaptan for the treatment of hyponatremia during chemotherapy in a four-year-old girl with a suprasellar germ cell tumor.

Real-time spectrum quantification of tumor-related fluorescence during neurosurgery: A preliminary report.

Objectives: The fluorescent dye, 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), is currently applied for fluorescence-guided resections of high-grade gliomas. Present limitations of this technique are qualitative and subjective analyses, which show little of the background structures. This paper describes the intraoperative quantitative analysis of fluorescence intensity, hot-spot enhancement by frame averaging, and observation of surrounding structures by using 1000-nm lighting in real time.

Primary neurolymphomatosis of the trigeminal nerve.

We report a case of a primary malignant lymphoma of the trigeminal nerve that was associated with facial pain. A 65-year-old man was examined at another hospital for unilateral facial pain. Carbamazepine was prescribed, but his symptoms did not improve.

Treatment of Fourth Ventricle Arachnoid Cyst via Anterior Hone of Lateral Ventricle Using Flexible Endoscope.

Background: Arachnoid cysts are common anomalies in the intracranial region. However, an intraventricular arachnoid cyst is rare, and occurrence within the fourth ventricle is especially uncommon; only 16 cases have been described in the literature. Arachnoid cysts in the fourth ventricle may cause obstructive hydrocephalus or cerebellar ataxia or cranial nerve palsy.

Disconnection of the pathological connectome for multifocal epilepsy surgery.

OBJECTIVERecent neuroimaging studies suggest that intractable epilepsy involves pathological functional networks as well as strong epileptogenic foci. Combining cortico-cortical evoked potential (CCEP) recording and tractography is a useful strategy for mapping functional connectivity in normal and pathological networks. In this study, the authors sought to demonstrate the efficacy of preoperative combined CCEP recording, high gamma activity (HGA) mapping, and tractography for surgical planning, and of intraoperative CCEP measures for confirmation of selective pathological network disconnection.

Facephenes and rainbows: Causal evidence for functional and anatomical specificity of face and color processing in the human brain.

Neuroscientists have long debated whether some regions of the human brain are exclusively engaged in a single specific mental process. Consistent with this view, fMRI has revealed cortical regions that respond selectively to certain stimulus classes such as faces. However, results from multivoxel pattern analyses (MVPA) challenge this view by demonstrating that category-selective regions often contain information about "nonpreferred" stimulus dimensions.

Clinical Impact and Implication of Real-Time Oscillation Analysis for Language Mapping.

Background: We developed a functional brain analysis system that enabled us to perform real-time task-related electrocorticography (ECoG) and evaluated its potential in clinical practice. We hypothesized that high gamma activity (HGA) mapping would provide better spatial and temporal resolution with high signal-to-noise ratios.

Methods: Seven awake craniotomy patients were evaluated.

A Case of Facial Spasm Associated with Ipsilateral Cerebellopontine Angle Arachnoid Cyst.

The authors report a rare case of right cerebellopontine angle cyst related to hemifacial spasm. The patient was a 66-year-old woman with a 3-year history of right hemifacial spasm. The cyst was diagnosed preoperatively by T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, which demonstrated a hyperintense area in the right cerebellopontine angle.

Rapid and minimum invasive functional brain mapping by real-time visualization of high gamma activity during awake craniotomy.

Background: Electrocortical stimulation (ECS) is the gold standard for functional brain mapping during an awake craniotomy. The critical issue is to set aside enough time to identify eloquent cortices by ECS. High gamma activity (HGA) ranging between 80 and 120 Hz on electrocorticogram is assumed to reflect localized cortical processing.

Social buffering reduces male rats' behavioral and corticosterone responses to a conditioned stimulus.

In social species, the presence of an affiliative same-sex conspecific ameliorates acute stress responses in threatening conditions. We previously found that the presence of an unfamiliar male rat separated by a wire mesh barrier blocks the behavioral responses and Fos expression in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) in a male subject rat that had previously been exposed to an auditory conditioned stimulus (CS) paired with foot shocks. Based on the Fos expression in the PVN, we hypothesized that the presence of a conspecific ameliorated the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation and induced social buffering of conditioned fear responses.

Functional localization of the supplementary motor area.

The supplementary motor area (SMA) is a key structure involved in behavioral planning and execution. Although many reports have indicated that SMA is organized somatotopically, its exact organization remains still unclear. This study aimed to functionally map SMA using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and validate the fMRI-SMA by electrocortical stimulation (ECS) and postsurgical symptoms.

[Dynamics of the language/memory functional regions determing using ECoG and fMRI].

We compared electrocorticography (ECoG) with invasive intracranial noninvasive functional MRI using language-related tasks. Twenty patients underwent bilateral implantation of subdural electrodes (more than 80 channels) for diagnosing intractable epilepsy. Before implantation of the electrodes, language-related fMRI was performed, and the fMR images were superimposed on individual brain images.

Hydrocephalus due to diffuse villous hyperplasia of the choroid plexus.

An 8-month-old female presented with hydrocephalus caused by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) overproduction due to bilateral choroid plexus enlargement, which was clinically diagnosed as diffuse villous hyperplasia of the choroid plexus, but differentiation from bilateral choroid plexus papilloma was difficult. She initially underwent ventriculoperitoneal shunt surgery, but developed marked retention of ascites. Therefore, the peritoneal end of the shunt was removed for external drainage, but excessive CSF (1,500 ml/day) was collected.