Shedding light on neuropathic pain: Current and emerging tools for diagnosis, screening, and quantification.

Ensuring the proper management of neuropathic pain is a contemporary challenge for professionals who care for patients with this type of pain. The estimated prevalence of neuropathic pain in Europe is 7%-8%. The objective of this study was to perform a non-systematic review on the diagnosis, screening, and quantification of neuropathic pain.

Neuropsychological assessment protocol in an ongoing randomized controlled trial on posterior subthalamic area vs. ventral intermediate nucleus deep brain stimulation for essential tremor.

Objective: Patients with essential tremor (ET) may experience cognitive-affective impairment. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of different targets, such as the ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) of the thalamus or the posterior subthalamic area (PSA), has been shown to be beneficial for refractory ET. However, there is little evidence regarding the possible neuropsychological effects of PSA-DBS on patients with ET, and there are few studies comparing it with VIM-DBS in this population.

A prospective international multi-center study on safety and efficacy of deep brain stimulation for resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been proposed for severe, chronic, treatment-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients. Although serious adverse events can occur, only a few studies report on the safety profile of DBS for psychiatric disorders. In a prospective, open-label, interventional multi-center study, we examined the safety and efficacy of electrical stimulation in 30 patients with DBS electrodes bilaterally implanted in the anterior limb of the internal capsule.

An initial experience with intraoperative O-Arm for deep brain stimulation surgery: can it replace post-operative MRI?

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is used to treat movement disorders, severe psychiatric disorders, and neuropathic pain, among other diseases. Advanced neuroimaging techniques allow direct or indirect localization of the target site, which is verified in many centers by the intraoperative recording of unitary neuronal activity. Intraoperative image acquisition technology (e.

Clinical results and costs of endovascular treatment in comparison with surgery in non ruptured aneurysms.

Objective: to evaluate the results and costs of surgical treatment against endovascular in non ruptured aneurysms.

Material And Methods: retrospective study of a consecutive series non ruptured aneurysms from a single-center treated endovascularly (EV) and surgically (SC). A descriptive study of demographic (age, sex) charqacteristics of the patients and the radiological aspects of the aneurysms have been carried out.

[Twiddler's syndrome in a patient with obsessive-compulsive disorder treated with deep brain stimulation].

Twiddler's syndrome is a rare complication associated with implantable electrical stimulation devices. First described in a patient with a pacemaker, it is a known complication in the field of cardiology. However, it is not so recognised in the world of neurosurgery, in which it has been described in relation to deep brain stimulation (DBS) devices.

Cognitive effects of subthalamic nucleus stimulation in Parkinson's disease: a controlled study.

Background: Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) improves motor function in selected patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) but can be associated with variable changes in cognitive functions.

Methods: We studied 21 patients selected for STN-DBS and compared 6-month clinical and neuropsychological outcomes between those who underwent surgery (n = 9) and those who voluntarily refused it (n = 12).

Results: Motor and quality of life outcomes were markedly superior in the STN-DBS group versus controls.

Evaluating the recovery of cognitive impairment in subarachnoid hemorrhage taking into consideration the practice effects.

Background: It is not completely clear whether there are differences in the evolution of the neuropsychological outcomes between the 2 intervention procedures (surgery and endovascular coiling) used in subarachnoid aneurysmatic hemorrhage. Some studies have investigated this topic but without completely controlling the effect of learning the tests.

Objective: To analyze our data using 2 different statistical procedures that attempt to solve this problem.

Neuropsychological evaluation of the treatments applied to intracranial aneurysms in a Spanish sample.

Very few studies have examined the neuropsychological differences between the two types of aneurysm treatment, and these studies come from different countries. The purpose of this study is to compare the neuropsychological differences between surgical treatment and endovascular treatment in a Spanish sample of patients who have experienced an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. The sample is composed of three groups: 40 patients who underwent surgical intervention, 24 who were treated by means of coiling, and a group of 29 healthy participants.

Description of quality of life and its predictors in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Background: According to previous studies, the quality of life is usually substantially altered in patients who have suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage of an aneurysmal origin. Some studies have attempted to find out which factors predict the deterioration in quality of life. Our study will try to describe the quality of life of these patients and discover which variables may predict it in each of its dimensions.

Carotid body autotransplantation in Parkinson disease: a clinical and positron emission tomography study.

Background: Carotid body (CB) glomus cells are highly dopaminergic and express the glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor. The intrastriatal grafting of CB cell aggregates exerts neurotrophic actions on nigrostriatal neurons in animal models of Parkinson disease (PD).

Objective: We conducted a phase I-II clinical study to assess the feasibility, long term safety, clinical and neurochemical effects of intrastriatal CB autotransplantation in patients with PD.

(201)Tl-SPECT in low-grade gliomas: diagnostic accuracy in differential diagnosis between tumour recurrence and radionecrosis.

Purpose: The aim of this work was to describe the usefulness of a simple (201)Tl single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) technique in the differential diagnosis between tumour recurrence and radionecrosis during the follow-up of patients treated for low-grade gliomas.

Methods: The study population comprised 84 patients treated for low-grade gliomas who showed suspicion of tumour recurrence during their follow-up. All patients were examined by neuro-anatomical imaging procedures (CT, MRI) and (201)Tl-SPECT.

Autotransplantation of human carotid body cell aggregates for treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Objective: In this study, we assessed the feasibility of autotransplantation of carotid body (CB) cell aggregates into the striatum for the treatment of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).

Methods: Six patients with advanced PD underwent bilateral autotransplantation of CB cell aggregates into the striatum. They were evaluated clinically preoperatively and for 18 months after surgery according to the recommendations of the Core Assessment Program for Intracerebral Transplantation.