Gamma Knife surgery for convexity, parasagittal, and falcine meningiomas.

Object: The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes in patients with convexity, parasagittal, or falcine meningiomas treated using Gamma Knife surgery (GKS) and to determine management strategy considering a risk of radiation-induced edema.

Methods: One hundred twelve patients who harbored 125 convexity, parasagittal, or falcine meningiomas were assessed. Forty-six patients underwent GKS as the initial treatment.

Radiosurgery for intracranial gliomas.

Long-term results of radiosurgery for GI to GIV astrocytomas are described. We have treated 172 astrocytoma cases in total, including 25 GI cases, 52 GII cases, 41 GIII cases and 54 GIV astrocytoma cases. There were 81 males and 91 females, with a mean age of 14.

[Radiosurgery of hypothalamic hamartomas].

Hypothalamic hamartomas are relatively rare congenital tumors and present peculiar clinical symptoms such as convulsive and gelastic seizures, mental retardation, various abnormal behaviors as well as precocious puberty. We have treated 8 cases of symptomatic hypothalamic hamartomas with gamma knife surgery. There are 7 males and one female, ages ranging from 2 to 28 years (mean of 14.

Gamma Knife surgery for skull base chordomas and chondrosarcomas.

Object: The purpose of this study was to evaluate radiosurgical outcomes in skull base chordomas and chondrosarcomas, and to determine which tumors are appropriate for stereotactic radiosurgery as adjuvant therapy following maximum tumor resection.

Methods: Thirty-seven patients (48 lesions) were treated using Gamma Knife surgery (GKS); 27 had chordomas, seven had chondrosarcomas, and three had radiologically diagnosed chordomas. The mean tumor volume was 20 ml, and the mean maximum and marginal doses were 28 and 14 Gy, respectively.

Long-term outcomes of Gamma Knife surgery for cavernous sinus meningioma.

Object: The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term outcomes, including tumor control and neurological function, in patients with cavernous sinus meningiomas treated using Gamma Knife surgery (GKS).

Methods: One hundred fifteen patients with cavernous sinus meningiomas, excluding atypical or malignant meningiomas, were treated with GKS between 1991 and 2003. Forty-nine patients (43%) underwent GKS as the initial treatment.

Radiosurgery for facial schwannoma.

Object: The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of radiosurgery in patients with facial schwannoma.

Methods: The study population consisted of 14 patients, six men and eight women, with a mean age of 45.4 years.

Trigeminal schwannomas: results of gamma knife surgery in 37 cases.

Object: Information on outcomes of Gamma Knife surgery (GKS) for patients harboring trigeminal schwannomas is limited because these tumors are rare. The authors evaluated tumor control and functional outcomes in patients who underwent GKS for trigeminal schwannomas to clarify the efficacy of this treatment.

Methods: Forty-two patients with trigeminal schwannomas but no evidence of neurofibromatosis Type 2 were treated with GKS at Komaki City Hospital between November 1991 and December 2003.

Malignant lymphoma arising in the cerebral parenchyma adjacent to a parasagittal meningioma.

A 70-year-old woman with an asymptomatic parasagittal meningioma had been under observation with follow-up imaging for 2 years. She gradually developed motor weakness in the left hand. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging disclosed a newly developed well-enhanced area in the cerebral parenchyma adjacent to the stable original meningioma.

Evaluation of tumor expansion after stereotactic radiosurgery in patients harboring vestibular schwannomas.

Objective: Stereotactic radiosurgery has been accepted as a safe and effective treatment in patients harboring a vestibular schwannoma. However, during follow-up, tumor expansion induced by high-dose irradiation can occur. Tumor expansion is more likely to be transient, but this phenomenon causes some confusion regarding whether further treatment should be performed.

Helical distribution of the bacterial chemoreceptor via colocalization with the Sec protein translocation machinery.

In Escherichia coli, chemoreceptor clustering at a cell pole seems critical for signal amplification and adaptation. However, little is known about the mechanism of localization itself. Here we examined whether the aspartate chemoreceptor (Tar) is inserted directly into the polar membrane by using its fusion to green fluorescent protein (GFP).

[Radiosurgery of epidermoid tumors with gamma knife: possiblility of radiosurgical nerve decompression].

Long-term results of radiosurgery for epidermoid tumors are reported. There are 7 cases including 2 males and 5 females, ages ranging from 6 to 46 (mean: 33.3 years).

Stereotactic radiosurgery for vestibular schwannomas: analysis of 317 patients followed more than 5 years.

Objective: Many investigators have reported successful treatment of vestibular schwannomas with gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS). However, long-term outcomes should be evaluated before concluding that GKRS is truly safe and effective for the treatment of vestibular schwannomas.

Methods: Between May 1991 and December 1998, 346 consecutive patients (excluding those presenting with neurofibromatosis Type 2) were treated with GKRS.

Long-term outcomes in patients with vestibular schwannomas treated using gamma knife surgery: 10-year follow up.

Object: Gamma knife surgery (GKS) has been a safe and effective treatment for vestibular schwannomas in both the short and long term, although less is known about long-term outcomes in the past 10 years. The aim of this study was to clarify long-term outcomes in patients with vestibular schwannomas treated using GKS based on techniques in place in the early 1990s.

Methods: Eighty patients harboring a vestibular schwannoma (excluding neurofibromatosis Type 2) were treated using GKS between May 1991 and December 1993.

Caspase activation in neuronal and glial apoptosis following spinal cord injury in mice.

The involvement of caspases in apoptosis after spinal cord injury (SCI) was investigated in adult mouse spinal cord after contusion. Sections of spinal cord were processed for staining 7 days after SCI with the fluorescent dye Hoechst 33342, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end-labeling (TUNEL), and immunostaining with an antibody (CM1) recognizing activated caspase-3. Caspase-3- and caspase-8-like enzyme activities were measured colorimetrically at 8 hours to 7 days after SCI using the specific substrates Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-p-nitroanilide and Ile-Glu-Thr-Asp-p-nitroanilide, respectively.