Endoscopic approaches to the spinal cord.

Minimally invasive procedures have been used to treat various diseases in medicine. Great improvements in these techniques have provided intraventricular, transnasal and more recently cisternal intracranial accesses used to treat different conditions. Endoscopic approaches have been proposed for the treatment of disk herniation or degenerative disease of the spine with great progress in the recent years.

Long term intrathecal infusion of opiates for treatment of failed back surgery syndrome.

Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS) is a multidimensional painful condition and its treatment remains a challenge for the surgeons. Prolonged intrathecal infusion of opiates for treatment of noncancer pain also remains a controversial issue. The authors present a prospective study about the long-term treatment of 30 patients with nonmalignant pain treated with intrathecal infusion of morphine from February, 1996 to May, 2004.

Endoscopic-guided percutaneous radiofrequency cordotomy.

The authors present the first clinical implementation of an endoscopic-assisted percutaneous anterolateral radiofrequency cordotomy. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the intradural endoscopic visualization of the cervical spinal cord via a percutaneous approach to refine the spinal target for anterolateral cordotomy, avoiding undesired trauma to the spinal tissue or injury to blood vessels. Initially, a lateral puncture of the spinal canal in the C1-2 interspace is performed, guided by fluoroscopy.

Stereotactic biopsy for intracranial lesions: clinical-pathological compatibility in 60 patients.

Objective: Image guided stereotactic biopsy (SB) provides cerebral tissue samples for histological analysis from minimal lesions or those that are located in deep regions, being crucial in the elaboration of therapeutic strategies, as well as the prevention of unnecessary neurosurgical interventions.

Method: Sixty patients with central nervous lesions underwent SB from November 1999 to March 2008. They were followed up to 65 months.