Minimally invasive tubular approach to intramedullary cavernous malformations.

Background: Advancements in minimally invasive spinal surgery have led to an expansion of targeted pathologies as well as improvements in surgical outcomes compared to their conventional counterparts through open laminectomy; however, this technique is rarely mentioned in the literature for intrinsic cord lesions. The authors present a novel minimally invasive, dorsolateral, and expandable tubular approach for the resection of an intradural, intramedullary thoracic cavernous malformation (CM).

Case Descriptions: A 52-year-old male patient presented with rapidly progressive myelopathy and loss of ambulatory capabilities, with which magnetic resonance imaging revealed a hemorrhagic CM within the thoracic spinal cord.

A novel simulation model for minimally invasive spine surgery.

Objective: Minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) is among the fastest growing technologies in general neurosurgical practice. In addition, great demand exists to teach these skills to neurosurgery residents. With newly enforced work hour restrictions, opportunities to acquire these skills are limited, necessitating development of alternative strategies of education.

Percutaneous placement of an external drain of the cisterna magna using interventional magnetic resonance imaging in a patient with a persistent cerebrospinal fluid fistula: technical case report.

Objective: Cerebrospinal fluid diversion from the cisterna magna has been described previously but has largely been abandoned because of high complication rates and anatomic constraints. Situations still remain in which this may be the best or only alternative. We describe the use of interventional magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) for the application of this largely forgotten procedure.

Enzymatic synthesis of aminoglycoside antibiotics: novel adenosylmethionine:2-deoxystreptamine N-methyltransferase activities in hygromycin B- and spectinomycin-producing Streptomyces spp. and uses of the methylated products.

Aminocyclitols structurally related to streptamine, a 1,3-diaminocyclitol, are common components of the RNA-binding aminoglycoside antibiotics. The respective aminocyclitol cores of hygromycin B and spectinomycin are N(3)-methyl-2-deoxy-D-streptamine and N(1),N(3)-dimethyl-2-epi-streptamine. Adenosyl[methyl-(14)C]methionine:2-deoxystreptamine N-methyltransferase activities were detected in extracts of early-stationary-phase mycelia of the hygromycin B producer Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp.