Background: Responsive neurostimulation (RNS) is an implantable device for persons with medically refractory focal-onset epilepsy. We report a single-center experience for RNS outcomes with special focus on stereoelectroencephalography (sEEG) for seizure onset localization.
Methods: We performed retrospective review of patients with drug resistant focal epilepsy implanted with the RNS System for a minimum of six months between July 2014 and July 2019.
Objective: The authors of this study evaluated the safety and efficacy of stereotactic laser ablation (SLA) for the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) in children.
Methods: Seventeen North American centers were enrolled in the study. Data for pediatric patients with DRE who had been treated with SLA between 2008 and 2018 were retrospectively reviewed.
Subcortical band heterotopia (SBH), also known as double cortex syndrome, is a malformation of cortical development caused by inherited or somatic gene variants. We present a case of a young adult with posterior SBH and electroclinical features of focal neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy. Genomic blood analysis identified a pathogenic somatic mosaicism duplication variant of the P gene.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This study aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of MR-guided stereotactic laser ablation (SLA) therapy in the treatment of pediatric brain tumors.
Methods: Data from 17 North American centers were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical, technical, and radiographic data for pediatric patients treated with SLA for a diagnosis of brain tumor from 2008 to 2016 were collected and analyzed.
Intracranial lipomas represent approximately 1% of intracranial lesions generally felt to represent the abnormal persistence of the meninx primitiva and are commonly accompanied by various developmental brain abnormalities. We report a case of midline intracranial lipoma and evolving frontal lobe fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) abnormality concerning for glial neoplasm in a patient with intractable epilepsy. Our case shows evolving magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features over two decades raising suspicion for low-grade neoplasm which was ultimately found to represent cortical dysplasia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOne of the most effective treatments for epilepsy is resection, but it remains underutilized. Efforts must be made to increase the ease, safety, and efficacy of epilepsy resection to improve utilization. Studies have shown an improved risk profile of stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) over subdural grids (SDG) for invasive monitoring.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDeficiency of trophic factors relating to the survival of oligodendrocytes, combined with direct interactions with the immune system, are favored paradigms that are increasingly implicated in demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system. We and others have previously shown that Sema4A and H-ferritin interact through the T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain (Tim-2) receptor in mice. H-ferritin has been identified as the iron delivery protein for oligodendrocytes, whereas Sema4A causes a direct cytotoxic effect.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Patients with bitemporal lobe epilepsy are generally not considered for surgical resection. Fortunately, responsive neurostimulation provides another avenue for the management of this challenging disease process. In conjunction with our epileptologist, we consider responsive neurostimulation for patients who have clinical features of temporal lobe epilepsy without clear localization on imaging and stereoelectroencephalography.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRobot-assisted stereotactic neurosurgery is an emerging technology with a growing range of applications. The ROSA system is a robotic stereotactic system that has been shown to be accurate in laboratory studies and large case series. The goal of this study was to examine the accuracy of the ROSA across different registration methods as well as different clinical applications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHypothalamic hamartomas (HH) are benign tumors that can cause significant morbidity in adults as a cause of epilepsy, particularly gelastic seizures. Open and endoscopic resections of HH offer good seizure control but have high rates of morbidity and are technically challenging. Stereotactic radiosurgery has been an alternative treatment; however, it results in comparably poor seizure control.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Myoclonus may be a rare complication of stem cell transplant but has limited discussion in the scientific literature.
Case: We present a case of an acute myeloid leukemia survivor who developed refractory myoclonic epilepsy four years after graft versus host disease (GVHD) developed six days following matched unrelated allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant.
Discussion: Graft versus host disease occurs in 30-50% of allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients and may cause pharmacoresistant myoclonic epilepsy; however, the mechanisms by which GVHD leads to recurrent myoclonic seizures are not well understood (Lee, 2005) [1].
Background: Leprosy is a major source of nerve damage and may lead to neuropathic pain as well as complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Spinal cord stimulation is an effective treatment for CRPS, but there are no reports of this treatment in a patient with leprosy.
Case Presentation: The patient is a 55-year-old man who presented with CRPS in the arms and legs secondary to leprosy that persisted despite multidrug therapy, steroid treatment, and intravenous immunoglobulin.
Background: Vertebral compression fractures are common, and can occur concomitantly in patients with symptomatic degenerative stenosis. Less commonly, complicated vertebral body fractures may involve retropulsion of bone into the spinal canal, resulting in stenosis with myelopathy and/or radiculopathy. Decompression of the neural elements can lead to destabilization and progressive kyphotic deformity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObject: Cerebrospinal fluid shunt systems malfunction for a multitude of reasons, including malpostitioning, obstruction of the ventricular or distal catheter, obstruction of the shunt valve, and catheter disruptions or disconnections. The goal of this study was to examine the hydrodynamic resistance and flow in new and explanted catheters and also in catheters with 1 or 2 straight connectors.
Methods: Explanted catheters of multiple lengths, 2-piece catheters, 3-piece catheters, and new catheters were attached to a proximal and distal manometer.
Background: Thymic carcinoma is an uncommon malignant tumor of the anterior mediastinum. Meningeal metastasis from this type of neoplasm is extraordinarily rare and the prognosis is abysmal.
Case Description: This article presents the case of a 45-year-old man with known metastatic thymic carcinoma who presented with intractable headaches.
Stereotact Funct Neurosurg
February 2007
Stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has become an accepted treatment for motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Generally, localization of the target is based on stereotactic atlas coordinates and magnetic resonance (MR) images. In this paper a method of direct anatomical localization of the STN on computed tomography (CT) images is described and compared with the Schaltenbrand-Wahren atlas.
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