Unilateral Lumbosacral Facet Abnormality Resembling Facet Interlocking: A Case Report.

We report a rare case presenting radiculopathy caused by unilateral lumbosacral facet abnormality resembling facet interlocking. The patient was a 57-year-old man with no medical and traumatic history. He began to exhibit numbness below his left ankle followed by pain at the left buttock with no obvious causes.

Improvement in Neurogenic Bowel and Bladder Dysfunction Following Posterior Decompression Surgery for Cauda Equina Syndrome: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Objective: The mechanisms of neurogenic bowel dysfunction (NBD) and neurogenic bladder (NB), which are major consequences of spinal cord injury and occasionally degenerative lumbar disease. The following in patients with cauda equina syndrome who underwent posterior decompression surgery was investigated: (1) the preoperative prevalence of NBD and NB, measured using the Constipation Scoring System (CSS) and International Prostate Symptoms Score (IPSS); (2) the degree and timing of postoperative improvement of NBD and NB.

Methods: We administered the CSS and IPSS in 93 patients before surgery and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively.

Long-term follow-up after BCNU wafer implantation in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

1,3-Bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU, or Carmustine) wafers are intraoperatively implantable wafers used to achieve local tumor control. There is scarce data about the behavior of wafers in the long-term follow-up of implanted cases. We reviewed the data of 64 patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma treated by surgery, BCNU wafers, radiation therapy, and temozolomide administration.

Severe low back pain with mild leg symptoms due to lumbar spine stenosis.

Background: Some patients with lumbar spine stenosis (LSS) have severe low back pain (LBP) with only mild leg symptoms. The effects of decompression surgery for such patients remain unknown.

Methods: Of 818 patients with LSS who underwent surgical treatment in our institution from 2011 to 2019, eight patients had a numeric rating scale (NRS) score of ≥7 for LBP and 3≤ for leg pain.

Microsurgical Resection of Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament in the Thoracic Spine via the Transthoracic Approach Without Spinal Fusion: 2-Dimensional Operative Video.

Surgical management of thoracic ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) remains challenging because of the fragility of the thoracic spinal cord. Posterior approach with long instrumentation has been predominantly performed. However, this procedure includes the risk of neurologic deterioration caused by the progression of OPLL during long-term follow-up and the need for long instrumentation to achieve dekyphosis, even for so-called beaked-type OPLL between 1 vertebra.

[A Case of Familial Schwannomatosis Occurring as Intraorbital Schwannoma].

A 67-year-old male presenting with left exophthalmos and progressive visual disturbance was referred to our department. Tumors at the supraclavicular fossa and dorsal femoral region were resected at ages 27 and 45 years. His father and son had both been diagnosed with spinal tumors, and his son's tumor was pathologically diagnosed as a schwannoma.

Angiographic Characterization of the External Carotid Artery: Special Attention to Variations in Branching Patterns.

Knowledge of branching patterns of external carotid artery (ECA) is essential for planning and execution of head and neck surgeries. Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) images of 532 ECAs from 302 consecutive patients were retrospectively evaluated. We classify the branch variants of ECA into three types, simply based on the number of branches arising close together.

Case of Calcifying Pseudoneoplasms of the Neuraxis Coexisting with Interhemispheric Lipoma and Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum: Involvement of Infiltrating Macrophages.

Background: Calcifying pseudoneoplasm of the neuraxis (CAPNON) is a rare clinical entity. We report an unusual case of intraparenchymal bifrontal CAPNON coexisting with interhemispheric lipoma and agenesis of the corpus callosum.

Case Description: A 64-year-old woman presented with slight weakness of her left leg.

Temporal Glioblastoma Mimicking Basal Ganglia Invasion: Distinguishing Removable and Unremovable Tumors.

Objective: Maximal safe resection prolongs the survival of patients with glioblastoma (GB). However, whether total resection of the enhanced lesion is pursued or abandoned depends on preoperative judgments based on the findings of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Anatomically, medial temporal tumor tends to invade toward the temporal stem, insula, and basal ganglia, representing tumor with high surgical risk.

Visual disorders caused by cranial arteriovenous fistula with venous drainage into the superior ophthalmic vein.

Background: Although the abnormal venous drainage into the superior ophthalmic vein (SOV) is a well-known entity responsible for ocular symptoms, it remains unclear to what degree it affects the visual function. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence, characteristics and outcomes of the visual disorders in patients with intracranial arteriovenous fistula (AVF) with venous drainage into the SOV.

Methods: This retrospective study involved eight patients diagnosed with intracranial AVFs with abnormal venous drainage into the SOV between January 2014 and December 2016.

Safe Stereotactic Biopsy for Basal Ganglia Lesions: Avoiding Injury to the Basal Perforating Arteries.

Background: One of the most serious complications of stereotactic biopsy is postoperative symptomatic hemorrhage due to injury to the basal perforating arteries such as the lenticulostriate arteries neighboring the basal ganglia lesions.

Objectives: A new target-planning method was proposed to reduce hemorrhagic complications by avoiding injury to the perforating arteries.

Methods: Three-dimensional 3-T time-of-flight (3D 3-T TOF) imaging was applied to delineate the basal perforating arteries such as the lenticulostriate arteries.