Beyond the Operating Room: The Reality of Gender Disparities in Neurosurgical Education Starting in Medical School.

Objective: Despite the growing number of female medical students, there remains a significant disparity between the number of female and male neurosurgeons. This study aims to determine if this trend is also evident among medical students, examine how various medical schools worldwide are addressing this issue, and propose potential solutions.

Methods: The data includes anonymous baseline information from congress registrations, the abstract submission system, and 2 surveys designed to assess student experiences before and after the congress.

Flow cytometry identifies changes in peripheral and intrathecal lymphocyte patterns in CNS autoimmune disorders and primary CNS malignancies.

Background: Immune dysregulation is a hallmark of autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), characterized by an excessive immune response, and primary CNS tumors (pCNS-tumors) showing a highly immunosuppressive parenchymal microenvironment.

Methods: Aiming to provide novel insights into the pathogenesis of CNS autoimmunity and cerebral tumor immunity, we analyzed the peripheral blood (PB) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 81 autoimmune limbic encephalitis (ALE), 148 relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), 33 IDH-wildtype glioma, 9 primary diffuse large B cell lymphoma of the CNS (CNS-DLBCL), and 110 controls by flow cytometry (FC). Additionally, an in-depth immunophenotyping of the PB from an independent cohort of 20 RRMS and 18 IDH-wildtype glioblastoma patients compared to 19 controls was performed by FC combined with unsupervised computational approaches.

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy in patients with malignant glioma-From neuroimmunology to clinical trial design considerations.

Clinical trials evaluating chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in patients with malignant gliomas have shown some early promise in pediatric and adult patients. However, the long-term benefits and safety for patients remain to be established. The ultimate success of CAR T-cell therapy for malignant glioma will require the integration of an in-depth understanding of the immunology of the central nervous system (CNS) parenchyma with strategies to overcome the paucity and heterogeneous expression of glioma-specific antigens.

Monitoring Blood-Brain Barrier Opening in Rats with a Preclinical Focused Ultrasound System.

The brain has a highly selective semipermeable blood barrier, termed the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which prevents the delivery of therapeutic macromolecular agents to the brain. The integration of MR-guided low-intensity pulsed focused ultrasound (FUS) with microbubble pre-injection is a promising technique for non-invasive and non-toxic BBB modulation. MRI can offer superior soft-tissue contrast and various quantitative assessments, such as vascular permeability, perfusion, and the spatial-temporal distribution of MRI contrast agents.