Multidisciplinary Surgical Teams for Cranioplasty: Indications and Outcomes at a Single Institution.

Cranioplasty is a common surgical procedure to repair skull defects. Due to cranioplasty's relatively high complication rates, multidisciplinary surgical teams (MSTs) of neurosurgeons and plastic surgeons have been suggested to improve patient outcomes. However, indications for MST remain undefined.

Clinical outcomes for pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma patients.

Background: Report our institutional experience with pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA) to contribute to limited data on optimal management.

Methods: Patients with pathologically confirmed PXA treated at our institution between 1990 and 2019 were identified. Demographic information, tumor grade, treatment variables, and clinical outcomes were collected from patient charts.

Decoding speech intent from non-frontal cortical areas.

. Brain machine interfaces (BMIs) that can restore speech have predominantly focused on decoding speech signals from the speech motor cortices. A few studies have shown some information outside the speech motor cortices, such as in parietal and temporal lobes, that also may be useful for BMIs.

Levetiracetam and valproic acid in glioma: antiseizure and potential antineoplastic effects.

Seizures are a frequent complication in glioma. Incidence of brain tumor-related epilepsy (BTRE) in high-grade glioma (HGG) is an estimated > 25% and in low-grade glioma (LGG) is approximately 72%. Two first-line antiseizure medications (ASMs) for BTRE include levetiracetam (LEV) and valproic acid (VPA).

Cortical sites critical to language function act as connectors between language subnetworks.

Historically, eloquent functions have been viewed as localized to focal areas of human cerebral cortex, while more recent studies suggest they are encoded by distributed networks. We examined the network properties of cortical sites defined by stimulation to be critical for speech and language, using electrocorticography from sixteen participants during word-reading. We discovered distinct network signatures for sites where stimulation caused speech arrest and language errors.

Long-term outcomes of central neurocytoma - an institutional experience.

Introduction: Central Neurocytoma (CN) is a rare, WHO grade 2 brain tumor that predominantly affects young adults. Gross total resection (GTR) is often curative for CNs, but the optimal treatment paradigm including incorporation of RT, following subtotal resection (STR) and for scarcer pediatric cases has yet to be established.

Methods: Patients between 2001 and 2021 with a pathologic diagnosis of CN were reviewed.

Predictors of salvage therapy for parasagittal meningiomas treated with primary surgery, radiosurgery, or surgery plus adjuvant radiotherapy.

Objective: Parasagittal meningiomas (PM) are treated with primary microsurgery, radiosurgery (SRS), or surgery with adjuvant radiation. We investigated predictors of tumor progression requiring salvage surgery or radiation treatment. We sought to determine whether primary treatment modality, or radiologic, histologic, and clinical variables were associated with tumor progression requiring salvage treatment.

Association of disruption of the right posterior arcuate fasciculus with spatial neglect.

Objective: Spatial neglect is a debilitating condition observed in patients with right-sided brain injuries in whom there is defective awareness of the contralesional space. Although classically considered a right parietal lobe deficit, there has been increasing interest in the specific white matter (WM) architecture subserving spatial neglect. Patients who have lesions associated with chronic disruptions in visuospatial networks are of significant relevance in elucidating the WM tracts associated with spatial attention.

Neurocognitive change over the course of a multiday external lumbar drain trial in patients with suspected normal pressure hydrocephalus.

To characterize neurocognitive response to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) diversion during a multiday external lumbar drainage (ELD) trial in patients with suspected normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH). Inpatients ( = 70) undergoing an ELD trial as part of NPH evaluation participated. Cognition and balance were assessed using standardized measures before and after a three-day ELD trial.

High-Gamma Activity Is Coupled to Low-Gamma Oscillations in Precentral Cortices and Modulates with Movement and Speech.

Planning and executing motor behaviors requires coordinated neural activity among multiple cortical and subcortical regions of the brain. Phase-amplitude coupling between the high-gamma band amplitude and the phase of low frequency oscillations (theta, alpha, beta) has been proposed to reflect neural communication, as has synchronization of low-gamma oscillations. However, coupling between low-gamma and high-gamma bands has not been investigated.

The immune system and metabolic products in epilepsy and glioma-associated epilepsy: emerging therapeutic directions.

Epilepsy has a profound impact on quality of life. Despite the development of new antiseizure medications (ASMs), approximately one-third of affected patients have drug-refractory epilepsy and are nonresponsive to medical treatment. Nearly all currently approved ASMs target neuronal activity through ion channel modulation.

Staging by Thoracoscopy in potentially radically treatable Lung Cancer associated with Minimal Pleural Effusion (STRATIFY): protocol of a prospective, multicentre, observational study.

Introduction: Recurrence rate following radical therapy for lung cancer remains high, potentially reflecting occult metastatic disease, and better staging tools are required. Minimal pleural effusion (mini-PE) is associated with particularly high recurrence risk and is defined as an ipsilateral pleural collection (<1/3 hemithorax on chest radiograph), which is either too small to safely aspirate fluid for cytology using a needle, or from which fluid cytology is negative. Thoracoscopy (local anaesthetic thoracoscopy (LAT) or video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS)) is the gold-standard diagnostic test for pleural malignancy in patients with larger symptomatic effusions.

White matter tracts contribute selectively to cognitive functioning in patients with glioma.

Objective: The functional organization of white matter (WM) tracts is not well characterized, especially in patients with intrinsic brain tumors where complex patterns of tissue injury, compression, and neuroplasticity may be present. This study uses diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate the relationships between WM tract disruption and cognitive deficits in glioma patients.

Methods: Seventy-nine patients with glioma underwent preoperative DTI and neuropsychological testing.

Long-term antiseizure medication use in patients after meningioma resection: identifying predictors for successful weaning and failures.

Objective: To define risk factors for meningioma-related seizures and predictors of successful weaning of antiseizure medications following meningioma resection.

Methods: This is a retrospective study of 95 patients who underwent meningioma resection at a single institution. Primary outcome analyzed was ability to achieve seizure freedom without the use of anti-seizure medication at 6-months, 1-year, and last known follow up.

Patterns of Antiseizure Medication Use Following Meningioma Resection: A Single-Institution Experience.

Objective: To investigate antiseizure medication (ASM) practice behavior for patients who present with seizures before meningioma resection and to review postoperative ASM management.

Methods: A retrospective study was performed of 112 consecutive patients with meningiomas who underwent resection at a single institution between October 2016 and January 2020. Data were collected through detailed chart review.

A Novel Intraoperative Mapping Device Detects the Thermodynamic Response Function.

Functional activation leads to an increase in local brain temperature via an increase in local perfusion. In the intraoperative setting, these cortical surface temperature fluctuations may be imaged using infrared thermography such that the activated brain areas are inferred. While it is known that temperature increases as a result of activation, a quantitative spatiotemporal description has yet to be achieved.

Stereotactic DOTATATE Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography-Guided Resection of a Multiply Recurrent World Health Organization Grade 2 Parasagittal Meningioma: A Technical Case Report.

Background And Importance: Resection of parasagittal meningiomas is challenging due to venous and superior sagittal sinus involvement. Recurrent tumors can be particularly challenging given scar tissue from prior surgery and radiation, which can be difficult to differentiate from active tumor on preoperative MRI. Cu-64-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA)-octreotate (DOTATATE) is a somatostatin receptor (SSTR) ligand detectable on positron emission tomography (PET) imaging.

A robust motion correction technique for infrared thermography during awake craniotomy.

Purpose: Intraoperative infrared thermography is an emerging technique for image-guided neurosurgery, whereby physiological and pathological processes result in temperature changes over space and time. However, motion during data collection leads to downstream artifacts in thermography analyses. We develop a fast, robust technique for motion estimation and correction as a preprocessing step for brain surface thermography recordings.

Initial Patient Satisfaction With Telemedicine in Neurosurgery Outpatient Clinic During the Early COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the medical community has been saturated by the necessity for telemedicine, or "telehealth", appointments. With limited prior exposure, the many challenges that accompany telehealth visits have affected how physicians conduct daily tasks and how patients perceive healthcare experiences. In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine was new to most neurosurgical patients.

Interlaboratory Study to Evaluate a Testing Protocol for the Safety of Food Packaging Coatings.

According to European regulations, migration from food packaging must be safe. However, currently, there is no consensus on how to evaluate its safety, especially for non-intentionally added substances (NIAS). The intensive and laborious approach, involving identification and then quantification of all migrating substances followed by a toxicological evaluation, is not practical or feasible.

High-gamma activity is coupled to low-gamma oscillations in precentral cortices and modulates with movement and speech.

Planning and executing motor behaviors requires coordinated neural activity among multiple cortical and subcortical regions of the brain. Phase-amplitude coupling between the high-gamma band amplitude and the phase of low frequency oscillations (theta, alpha, beta) has been proposed to reflect neural communication, as has synchronization of low-gamma oscillations. However, coupling between low-gamma and high-gamma bands has not been investigated.