Use of day 1 early morning cortisol to predict the need for glucocorticoid replacement after pituitary surgery.

Background: Assessment of adrenal reserve in patients who have undergone pituitary surgery is crucial. However, there is no clear consensus with regards to the type and timing of the test that should be used in the immediate post-operative period. Recently, there has been increased interest in measuring post-operative cortisol levels.

Stereotactic radiosurgery for the treatment of melanoma and renal cell carcinoma brain metastases.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and melanoma brain metastases have traditionally been considered radioresistant lesions when treated with conventional radiotherapeutic modalities. Radiosurgery provides high-dose radiation to a defined target volume with steep fall off in dose at lesion margins. Recent evidence suggests that stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is effective in improving local control and overall survival for a number of tumor subtypes including RCC and melanoma brain metastases.

Gamma knife radiosurgery for the treatment of cystic cerebral metastases.

Purpose: To assess the role of Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) in the treatment of nonsurgical cystic brain metastasis, and to determine predictors of response to GKRS.

Methods: We reviewed a prospectively maintained database of brain metastases patients treated at our institution between 2006 and 2010. All lesions with a cystic component were identified, and volumetric analysis was done to measure percentage of cystic volume on day of treatment and consecutive follow-up MRI scans.

Current standards in the management of cerebral metastases.

The last 30 years have seen major changes in attitude toward patients with cerebral metastases. This paper aims to outline the major landmarks in this transition and the therapeutic strategies currently used. The controversies surrounding control of brain disease are discussed, and two emerging management trends are reviewed: tumor bed radiosurgery and salvage radiation.

Hemangiopericytoma: long-term outcome revisited. Clinical article.

Object: Hemangiopericytomas are rare tumors that behave aggressively with a high rate of local recurrence and distant metastases. With the aim of determining the outcome and response to various treatment modalities, a series of 39 patients who underwent microsurgical resection for primary meningeal hemangiopericytoma over a 24-year period is presented.

Methods: Patients with hemangiopericytoma were identified from histopathology records and their medical records were analyzed retrospectively by 2 independent reviewers to collect data on surgical treatment, adjuvant therapy, postoperative course, local or distant recurrence, and follow-up.

Stability of ruptured intracranial aneurysms treated with detachable coils: is delayed follow-up angiography warranted?

The optimal strategy for monitoring the stability of ruptured intracranial aneurysms following coil embolisation is unclear. The value of delayed follow-up angiography in detecting new recurrences or progression of residual lesions visualised on earlier angiographic studies was determined in the light of the increasing use of non-invasive imaging techniques such as time of flight magnetic resonance angiography (TOF-MRA) for the evaluation of intracranial aneurysm occlusion. Ninety-seven patients with 105 ruptured aneurysms treated with detachable coils in 2005 and 2006 were included.

Increase in apparent diffusion coefficient in normal appearing white matter following human traumatic brain injury correlates with injury severity.

Following diffuse traumatic brain injury, there may be persistent functional or psychological deficits despite the presence of normal conventional MR images. Previous experimental animal and human studies have shown diffusion abnormalities following focal brain injury. Our aim was to quantify changes in apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and absolute relaxation times of normal appearing white matter (NAWM) in humans following traumatic brain injury.

Primary low-grade B-cell lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue of the dura mimicking the presentation of an acute subdural hematoma. Case report and review of the literature.

The authors present the case of a 64-year-old woman who experienced a left hemiparesis. An initial diagnosis of subdural hematoma was made based on results of computerized tomography scanning. Subsequent magnetic resonance imaging indicated an extraaxial meningioma.