Osteoplastic decompressive craniotomy--an alternative to decompressive craniectomy.

Background: In spite of various degrees of brain expansion, decompressive surgery is usually carried out using decompressive craniectomy (DC). After craniectomy it is necessary to perform cranioplasty, which prolongs hospitalization and is not always without complications. Hence, in situations when cranial decompression is indicated, but DC would be too radical, we do not remove the bone flap, and we perform so-called osteoplastic decompressive craniotomy (ODC).

Decompressive surgery for malignant supratentorial infarction remains underutilized after guideline publication.

Decompressive surgery <48 h from stroke onset reduces the prevalence of mortality and morbidity from malignant supratentorial infarction. We investigated if utilization of decompressive surgery changed in the Czech Republic (CZ) after the release of new guidelines regarding treatment of malignant brain infarction. The volume of decompressive surgery in 2009 in all centers in the CZ was assessed using the same methodology as in 2006.

Elastofibromatous changes in tissues from spinal biopsies. A degenerative process afflicting a small but important subset of patients operated for spinal canal compression: report of 18 cases.

Elastofibroma is a tumorlike lesion occurring usually in the subscapular region of elderly females. In this study, 18 cases of elastofibromatous tissue retrieved from the spinal canal were analyzed to elucidate its frequency and possible clinical associations. The patients included 8 men and 10 women with a mean age of 63.

Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging of glial brain tumors.

Aim: To evaluate the author's experience with the use of diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DTI) on patients with glial tumors.

Methods: A retrospective evaluation of a group of 24 patients with glial tumors was performed. There were eight patients with Grade II, eight patients with Grade III and eight patients with Grade IV tumors with a histologically proven diagnosis.