The Smith-Robinson Approach to the Subaxial Cervical Spine: A Stepwise Microsurgical Technique Using Volumetric Models From Anatomic Dissections.

Background: The Smith-Robinson1 approach (SRA) is the most widely used route to access the anterior cervical spine. Although several authors have described this approach, there is a lack of the stepwise anatomic description of this operative technique. With the advent of new technologies in neuroanatomy education, such as volumetric models (VMs), the understanding of the spatial relation of the different neurovascular structures can be simplified.

Microsurgical Anatomy of the Insular Region and Operculoinsular Association Fibers and its Neurosurgical Application.

Objective: To analyze the three-dimensional relationships of the operculoinsular compartments, using standard hemispheric and white matter fiber dissection and review the anatomy of association fibers related to the operculoinsular compartments of the Sylvian fissure and the main white matter tracts located deep into the insula. The secondary aim of this study was to improve the knowledge on this complex region to safely address tumor, vascular, and epilepsy lesions with an integrated perspective of the topographic and white matter fiber anatomy using 2D and 3D photographs.

Methods: Six cadaveric hemispheres were dissected.

Using NMR in saliva to identify possible biomarkers of glioblastoma and chronic periodontitis.

Nowadays there is increasing interest in identifying-and using-metabolites that can be employed as biomarkers for diagnosing, treating and monitoring diseases. Saliva and NMR have been widely used for this purpose as they are fast and inexpensive methods. This case-control study aimed to find biomarkers that could be related to glioblastoma (GBL) and periodontal disease (PD) and studied a possible association between GBL and periodontal status.

[Cranial trepanation in primitive cultures].

A review is presented on cranial trepanations performed by primitive cultures. The scientific interest in this topic began after the discovery in 1965 by Ephraim G. Squier of a pre-Columbian trepanated skull, and studied by Paul Broca in Paris.

[History of the craniotomy].

Craniotomy can be defined as the neurosurgical procedure aimed at achieving a wide cranial opening with the final purpose of performing a surgical therapeutic manoeuvre within the intracranial space. The current surgical technique for craniotomy is the final result of the development of the procedure since its introduction at the end of the 19th century. The very first wide cranial approach was introduced in 1889 by Wagner, and described as a 'temporary cranial resection'.

[Prognostic variability in atypical meningioma with complete resection. Proposed treatment algorithm].

Objective: The authors attempt to show how the current prognostic factors that try to assess the risk of recurrence of atypical meningiomas are insufficient to predict the future of this disease.

Materials And Method: Using data obtained from hospital databases, a sample of 27 patients was obtained with pathological diagnosis of atypical meningioma, and who had a minimum follow-up time of 6months after diagnosis. Later prognostic factors (age <50years, male gender, bone involvement, peri-lesional swelling, tumour volume, location, Ki67/MIB-1) were evaluated after the stratification of patients undergoing complete resection in recurrencies and non-recurrencies.

[Spinal cord stimulation and failed back surgery syndrome. Clinical results with laminectomy electrodes].

Introduction: Spinal cord stimulation is a widely-accepted technique in the treatment of back pain resulting from failed back surgery. Classically, stimulation has been carried out with percutaneous electrodes implanted under local anaesthesia and sedation. However, the ease of migration and the difficulty of reproducing electrical paresthesias in large areas with such electrodes has led to increasing use of surgical plate leads, which have the disadvantage of the need for general anaesthesia and a laminectomy for implantation.

Magnetic resonance microscopy at 14 Tesla and correlative histopathology of human brain tumor tissue.

Magnetic Resonance Microscopy (MRM) can provide high microstructural detail in excised human lesions. Previous MRM images on some experimental models and a few human samples suggest the large potential of the technique. The aim of this study was the characterization of specific morphological features of human brain tumor samples by MRM and correlative histopathology.

Metabolic aggressiveness in benign meningiomas with chromosomal instabilities.

Meningiomas are often considered benign tumors curable by surgery, but most recurrent meningiomas correspond to histologic benign tumors. Because alterations in chromosome 14 among others have suggested clinical aggressiveness and recurrence, determining both the molecular phenotype and the genetic profile may help distinguish tumors with aggressive metabolism. The aim of this study was to achieve higher specificity in the detection of meningioma subgroups by measuring chromosomal instabilities by fluorescence in situ hybridization and cytogenetics and metabolic phenotypes by high-resolution magic angle spinning spectroscopy.