The surgical outcomes following transsphenoidal surgery for Rathke cleft cysts: Comparison of the surgical approaches at a single institution.

The aim of the present study is to retrospectively analyze the surgical outcomes and complications of microscopic and endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery in the management of Rathke cleft cysts (RCCs) at a single institution. A total of 38 patients were enrolled in this study. All patients were diagnosed with RCCs, which were confirmed histopathologically.

The outcomes of surgical treatment via transsphenoidal approach for patients with nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma: a single institution's experience.

Background: Nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma is a primary benign brain neoplasm and the transsphenoidal approach is known for a safe and effective first-line surgical treatment for pituitary tumours. The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyse the outcomes of the transsphenoidal approach for nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas treated at a single institute.

Methods: A total of 181 patients who underwent transsphenoidal approach with nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma at a single institute from March 1998 to November 2018 were included in this study.

A Study on Verification of Equivalence and Effectiveness of Non-Pharmacologic Dementia Prevention and Early Detection Contents : Non-Randomly Equivalent Design.

Objective: The aim of this study was to verify the equivalence and effectiveness of the tablet-administered Korean Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (K-RBANS) for the prevention and early detection of dementia.

Methods: Data from 88 psychiatry and neurology patient samples were examined to evaluate the equivalence between tablet and paper administrations of the K-RBANS using a non-randomly equivalent group design. We calculated the prediction scores of the tablet-administered K-RBANS based on demographics and covariate-test scores for focal tests using norm samples and tested format effects.

The Korean Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status-Update : Psychiatric and Neurosurgery Patient Sample Validity.

Objective: This study aimed to validate the Korean version of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status Update (K-RBANS).

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 283 psychiatric and neurosurgery patients. To investigate the convergent validity of the K-RBANS, correlation analyses were performed for other intelligence and neuropsychological test results.

Tumor treating fields plus temozolomide for newly diagnosed glioblastoma: a sub-group analysis of Korean patients in the EF-14 phase 3 trial.

Background: Tumor treating fields (TTFields) are anti-mitotic, non-invasive loco-regional cancer therapy comprising low intensity, intermediate frequency alternating electric fields. TTFields plus Temozolomide (TTFields/TMZ) extended survival versus TMZ alone in newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM) patients in the EF-14 trial. We report on Korean newly diagnosed GBM patients who participated in the EF-14 trial.

Differences in corpus callosum injury between cerebral concussion and diffuse axonal injury.

Background: We investigated differences in corpus callosum (CC) injuries between patients with concussion and those with diffuse axonal injury (DAI) by using diffusion tensor tractography (DTT).

Methods: Twenty-nine patients with concussion, 21 patients with DAI, and 25 control subjects were recruited. We reconstructed the whole CC and 5 regions of the CC after applying Hofer classification (I, II, III, IV, and V).

The Relation Between Loss of Consciousness, Severity of Traumatic Brain Injury, and Injury of Ascending Reticular Activating System in Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury.

Objective: Loss of consciousness is an indicator of the severity of traumatic brain injury and the ascending reticular activating system has been considered as a main structure for consciousness. However, no study on the relation between loss of consciousness and ascending reticular activating system injury in traumatic brain injury has been reported. We investigated the relation between loss of consciousness, severity of traumatic brain injury, and ascending reticular activating system injury using diffusion tensor tractography.

Prognostic Factors of Atypical Meningioma: Overall Survival Rate and Progression Free Survival Rate.

Objective: Atypical meningioma is rare tumor and there is no accurate guide line for optimal treatment. This retrospective study analyzed the prognostic factors, the effect of different methods of treatments and the behavior of atypical meningioma.

Methods: Thirty six patients were diagnosed as atypical meningioma, among 273 patients who were given a diagnosis of meningioma in the period of 2002 to 2015.

The Effectiveness of Subdural Drains Using Urokinase after Burr Hole Evacuation of Subacute Subdural Hematoma in Elderly Patients: A Prelimilary Report.

Objective: A subdural drain using urokinase after a burr hole hematoma evacuation was performed for subacute subdural hematoma (SASDH), and its effectiveness and safety in elderly patients were evaluated.

Methods: Between January 2013 and May 2015, subdural drains using urokinase after burr hole hematoma evacuation were performed in 19 elderly patients. The inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) a subdural hematoma occurring between 4 and 20 days after injury; 2) worsening neurological symptoms, from mild to moderate or severe, due to injury during the subacute stage; 3) a mix of solid clots (high-density lighter shadow) and fluid hematoma (low-density darker shadow) on the computed tomography (CT) scan; 4) a score of ≥9 on the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) assessed immediately before surgery; and 5) an age of ≥65 years.

Preoperative identification of facial nerve in vestibular schwannomas surgery using diffusion tensor tractography.

Objective: Facial nerve palsy is a common complication of treatment for vestibular schwannoma (VS), so preserving facial nerve function is important. The preoperative visualization of the course of facial nerve in relation to VS could help prevent injury to the nerve during the surgery. In this study, we evaluate the accuracy of diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) for preoperative identification of facial nerve.

Preservation of Facial Nerve Function Repaired by Using Fibrin Glue-Coated Collagen Fleece for a Totally Transected Facial Nerve during Vestibular Schwannoma Surgery.

Recently, the increasing rates of facial nerve preservation after vestibular schwannoma (VS) surgery have been achieved. However, the management of a partially or completely damaged facial nerve remains an important issue. The authors report a patient who was had a good recovery after a facial nerve reconstruction using fibrin glue-coated collagen fleece for a totally transected facial nerve during VS surgery.

Relation between cognition and neural connection from injured cingulum to brainstem cholinergic nuclei in chronic patients with traumatic brain injury.

Background: This study investigated the relation between cognition and the neural connection from injured cingulum to brainstem cholinergic nuclei in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), using diffusion tensor tractography (DTT).

Methods: Among 353 patients with TBI, 20 chronic patients who showed discontinuation of both anterior cingulums from the basal forebrain on DTT were recruited for this study. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale and the Memory Assessment Scale (MAS; short-term, verbal, visual and total memory) were used for assessment of cognition.

Prognostic factors of neurocognitive and functional outcomes in junior and senior elderly patients with traumatic brain injury undergoing disability evaluation or appointed disability evaluation.

Objective: This study explored the relationships among demographic (DVs) and clinical variables (CVs), neurocognitive (NOs) and functional outcome (FO) that could be used as prognostic factors for old aged patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) undergoing or appointed disability evaluation (DE) after treatment.

Methods: A total of 162 subjects with TBI above the age of 55 years undergoing DE or appointed to do so after treatments were selected. The patients were divided into two subgroups according to age : a junior elderly group 55 to 64 years old and a senior elderly group over the age of 65.

Neurocognitive function differentiation from the effect of psychopathologic symptoms in the disability evaluation of patients with mild traumatic brain injury.

Objective: We determined whether the relationship between the neuropsychological performance of patients with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their psychopathological characteristics measured by disability evaluation are interrelated. In addition, we assessed which psychopathological variable was most influential on neuropsychological performance via statistical clustering of the same characteristics of mild TBI.

Methods: A total of 219 disability evaluation participants with mild brain injury were selected.

Incidental Superior Hypophygeal Artery Aneurysm Embedded within Pituitary Adenoma.

Intra-cranial aneurysm can be incidental findings in patients with pituitary adenomas, and are usually located outside the pituitary region. However, the coexistence of intrasellar (not intracranial) aneurysms with pituitary adenomas is extremely rare. We report a patient with an incidental superior hypophygeal aneurysm embedded within a non-functional pituitary adenoma which was treated by transsphenoidal surgery after endovascular coil embolization.

Relation between cingulum injury and cognition in chronic patients with traumatic brain injury; diffusion tensor tractography study.

Objectives: Many diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have reported an association between cingulum injury and cognition in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) using DTI parameters. In this study, we attempted to investigate the relation between cingulum injury and cognition in chronic patients with TBI, using the integrity of the cingulum as well as DTI parameters.

Method: Thirty five consecutive chronic patients with TBI were recruited.

Long-term follow-up result of hydroxyurea chemotherapy for recurrent meningiomas.

Objective: Meningiomas represent 18-20% of all intracranial tumors and have a 20-50% 10-year recurrence rate, despite aggressive surgery and irradiation. Hydroxyurea, an inhibitor of ribonucleotide reductase, is known to inhibit meningioma cells by induction of apoptosis. We report the long-term follow-up result of hydroxyurea therapy in the patients with recurrent meningiomas.

Alveolar soft part sarcoma metastasized to both the skull and the brain.

Alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) with skull and brain metastases is extremely rare. A 53-year-old patient diagnosed as skull metastasis of ASPS visited our clinic complaining of an outgrowing scalp mass in spite of radiation therapy. Past medical history revealed that the patient had been diagnosed and treated for ASPS of the thigh 4 years ago.

Neural injury of uncinate fasciculus in patients with diffuse axonal injury.

The recent development of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) allows visualization and estimation of the uncinate fasciculus (UF). We investigated injuries of the UF in patients with diffuse axonal injury (DAI) who showed no specific lesions except for DAI lesions on conventional brain MRI. Twenty-one chronic patients with DAI, and 21 age- and sex-matched normal control subjects were recruited for this study.

Optic radiation injury in a patient with traumatic brain injury.

Primary Objective: This study reports on a patient who showed an optic radiation (OR) injury on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) following head trauma. The patient, who had suffered a traffic accident, underwent conservative management for diffuse axonal injury and contusions in the left midbrain, temporal lobe and anterior to mid-portion of left OR. He complained of right homonymous hemianopsia from the onset of TBI and right bilateral homonymous hemianopsia was detected at the 6-month Humphrey visual field test.

Cortical reorganization of hand motor function to face somatotopy in a patient with brain injury: a functional MRI study.

We report on a patient with a meningioma whose hand motor function appeared to be reorganized mainly into the face somatotopy of the primary motor cortex (M1) following meningioma removal, using functional RMI (fMRI). A 76-year-old right-handed woman showed leukomalactic lesions in the left fronto-parietal lobes and subcortical white matter, including the upper portion of the precentral knob after meningioma removal. She recovered motor function to the point that she was able to extend the affected fingers against gravity at 6 weeks and extend the affected fingers against resistance at 12 weeks.

Classification of cause of motor weakness in traumatic brain injury using diffusion tensor imaging.

Background: Many studies have attempted to elucidate the causes of motor weakness in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Most of these studies have focused on the specific cause of motor weakness. However, little is known about the classification and elucidation of the causes of motor weakness in consecutive patients with TBI.

Cerebellar pilocytic astrocytomas with spontaneous intratumoral hemorrhage in adult.

Cerebellar pilocytic astrocytomas (PAs) are benign gliomas predominantly found in the pediatric population. Intracranial hemorrhages are extremely rare in initial presentations of cerebellar PAs. There are no reports in the medical literature of adult cerebellar PA cases presenting with intratumoral hemorrhage.

Clinical usefulness of diffusion tensor imaging in patients with transtentorial herniation following traumatic brain injury.

Primary Objective: This study investigated the clinical usefulness of diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) for elucidation of the corticospinal tract (CST) state in patients with transtentorial herniation (TH) following traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Methods And Procedures: Eleven consecutive patients with TH were recruited among 175 patients with TBI. Patients who showed TH were classified into two groups according to DTT findings: Group 1: the integrity of CST was preserved, Group 2: the integrity of CST was disrupted at the cerebral peduncle (CP) or pons.

Neuronal loss in the medial cholinergic pathway from the nucleus basalis of Meynert in patients with traumatic axonal injury: a preliminary diffusion tensor imaging study.

Objective: The recent development of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) allows visualization and estimation of the medial cholinergic pathway (MCP), which originates from the nucleus basalis of Meynert and provides cortical cholinergic innervation to the cerebral cortex. We investigated the injury to the MCP in patients with traumatic axonal injury (TAI), using DTI.

Design: Retrospective survey.