Massive Biventricular Thrombi in a Patient with Endometrial Adenocarcinoma Diagnosed on Computed Tomography Angiography.

Biventricular thrombi are a rare clinical entity and only reported in several case reports. Given ventricular thrombi are high risk for cardioembolic events, accurate detection and therapeutic management has an important influence on clinical outcomes. We present a case of a patient with biventricular thrombi that was initially diagnosed on computed tomography angiography, emphasizing its clinical utility as a rapid, non-invasive imaging modality for early detection.

Soluble ST2 and Soluble Markers of Fibrosis: Emerging Roles for Prognosis and Guiding Therapy.

Purpose Of Review: Biomarkers of cardiac fibrosis closely track the disease state that gives rise to heart failure. The purpose of this review is to highlight recent data on the use of soluble ST2, galectin-3, and procollagen, three markers of cardiac fibrosis, for aiding with prognostication, and to explore the use of these biomarkers for guiding therapy.

Recent Findings: Soluble ST2, galectin-3, and procollagen are prognostic in both acute and chronic heart failure, and data are emerging as to their potential uses for guiding therapies.

An update on the use and discovery of prognostic biomarkers in acute decompensated heart failure.

: Acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) remains a significant health care burden as evidenced by high readmission rates and mortality. Over the years, the care of patients with ADHF has been transformed by the use of biomarkers, specifically to aid in the diagnosis and prognosis. Patients with HF follow a variable course given the complex and heterogenous pathophysiological processes, thus it is imperative for clinicians to have tools to predict short and long-term outcomes in order to educate patients and optimize management.

Chondrosarcoma of the Osseous Spine: An Analysis of Epidemiology, Patient Outcomes, and Prognostic Factors Using the SEER Registry From 1973 to 2012.

Study Design: Retrospective analysis.

Objective: To determine the epidemiology and prognostic indicators in patients with chondrosarcoma of the osseous spine.

Summary Of Background Data: Chondrosarcoma of the spine is rare, with limited data on its epidemiology, clinicopathologic features, and treatment outcomes.

Diffusion tractography imaging-guided frameless linear accelerator stereotactic radiosurgical thalamotomy for tremor: case report.

Essential tremor and Parkinson's disease-associated tremor are extremely prevalent within the field of movement disorders. The ventral intermediate (VIM) nucleus of the thalamus has been commonly used as both a neuromodulatory and neuroablative target for the treatment of these forms of tremor. With both deep brain stimulation and Gamma Knife radiosurgery, there is an abundance of literature regarding the surgical planning, targeting, and outcomes of these methodologies.

Feature visualization and classification for the discrimination between individuals with Parkinson's disease under levodopa and DBS treatments.

Background: Over the years, a number of distinct treatments have been adopted for the management of the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD), including pharmacologic therapies and deep brain stimulation (DBS). Efficacy is most often evaluated by subjective assessments, which are prone to error and dependent on the experience of the examiner. Our goal was to identify an objective means of assessing response to therapy.

Anterior Cingulotomy for the Treatment of Chronic Intractable Pain: A Systematic Review.

Background: Anterior cingulotomy for chronic pain aims to modulate patients' attention or emotional reaction to pain rather than to modulate pain intensity.

Objectives: To evaluate the clinical efficacy, both short- and long-term, of anterior cingulotomy in the treatment of chronic pain.

Study Design: Systematic review.

Pulmonary hypertension secondary to pulmonary veno-occlusive disease complicated by right heart failure, hypotension and acute kidney injury.

Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease (PVOD) is rare condition which can lead to severe pulmonary hypertension, right ventricular dysfunction, and cardiopulmonary failure. The diagnosis of PVOD can be challenging due to its nonspecific symptoms and its similarity to idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension and interstitial lung disease in terms of diagnostic findings. This case describes a 57 year old female patient who presented with a 5-month history of progressive dyspnea on exertion and nonproductive cough.

Prognostic determinants and treatment outcomes analysis of osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma of the spine.

Background Context: Osteosarcoma (OGS) and Ewing sarcoma (EWS) are the two classic primary malignant bone tumors. Due to the rarity of these tumors, evidence on demographics, survival determinants, and treatment outcomes for primary disease of the spine are limited and derived from small case series.

Purpose: To use population-level data to determine the epidemiology and prognostic indicators in patients with OGS and EWS of the osseous spine.

Hypofractionated Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy to Large Resection Cavity of Metastatic Brain Tumors.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of postoperative fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery (FSRS) and hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) to large surgical cavities after gross total resection of brain metastases.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 41 patients who had received tumor-bed FSRS (5 fractions) or SRT (10 fractions) after resection of brain metastasis between 2005 and 2015 was performed. All resection cavities were treated with a frameless linear accelerator-based system.

Modeling Laterality of the Globus Pallidus Internus in Patients With Parkinson's Disease.

Objective: Neurosurgical interventions such as deep brain stimulation surgery of the globus pallidus internus (GPi) play an important role in the treatment of medically refractory Parkinson's disease (PD), and require high targeting accuracy. Variability in the laterality of the GPi across patients with PD has not been well characterized. The aim of this report is to identify factors that may contribute to differences in position of the motor region of GPi.

Glioblastoma following treatment with fingolimod for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

Glioblastoma is an uncommon and aggressive primary brain tumor with incidence of 3 per 100,000 annually. We report a 50-year-old woman diagnosed with glioblastoma within threeyears of induction of fingolimod therapy for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Fingolimod, an immunomodulating agent used in the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, has also been suggested to impart a cardioprotective role in heart failure and arrhythmia via activation of P21-activated kinase-1 (Pak1).

Lateralization of the Subthalamic Nucleus with Age in Parkinson's Disease.

Age-related changes in subthalamic nucleus (STN) position have not been well characterized in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). We report a systematic retrospective analysis of age-related changes in radiographic and final deep brain stimulator (DBS) STN coordinates in PD patients. The charts of 134 PD patients (97 males, 28-84 years) representing 255 STN were reviewed.

Radiosurgical target distance from the root entry zone in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia.

Purpose: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) provides a noninvasive treatment modality for patients with medically refractory trigeminal neuralgia. The root entry zone (REZ) has been proposed to be an ideal stereotactic target because it is partially composed of centrally produced myelin, conferring a theoretical increased sensitivity to irradiation as well as increased susceptibility to neurovascular conflict, making it the site in which nociceptive signals likely arise. The aim of this study is to determine if there is a statistically and clinically significant difference in pain relief or facial hypesthesia following SRS based on distance of the stereotactic isocenter from REZ.

Effect of Cranial Window Diameter During Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery on Volume of Pneumocephalus.

Objective: Successful deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery necessitates high accuracy in targeting specific intracranial nuclei. Brain shift due to pneumocephalus can contribute to decreased accuracy. Larger burr holes and dural openings may increase pneumocephalus volume due to a greater degree of communication between the subdural space and extracranial air.