Effect of Prior Embolization on Outcomes After Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Pediatric Brain Arteriovenous Malformations: An International Multicenter Study.

Background: Pediatric brain arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are a significant cause of morbidity but the role of multimodal therapy in the treatment of these lesions is not well understood.

Objective: To compare the outcomes of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) with and without prior embolization for pediatric AVMs.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the International Radiosurgery Research Foundation pediatric AVM database.

Giant pituitary macroadenoma of stem cell origin: illustrative case.

Background: Giant pituitary macroadenomas with a diameter >4 cm are rare tumors, accounting for only about 5% of pituitary adenomas. They are more difficult to maximally resect safely owing to limited access as well as encasement of adjacent structures. Acidophil stem cell adenomas are rare immature neoplasms proposed to derive from common progenitor cells of somatotroph and lactotroph cells.

Stereotactic radiosurgery with versus without prior Onyx embolization for brain arteriovenous malformations.

Objective: Investigations of the combined effects of neoadjuvant Onyx embolization and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) on brain arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) have not accounted for initial angioarchitectural features prior to neuroendovascular intervention. The aim of this retrospective, multicenter matched cohort study is to compare the outcomes of SRS with versus without upfront Onyx embolization for AVMs using de novo characteristics of the preembolized nidus.

Methods: The International Radiosurgery Research Foundation AVM databases from 1987 to 2018 were retrospectively reviewed.

Nimodipine after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: Fourteen-day course for patients that meet criteria for early hospital discharge.

Background: Randomized-controlled trials and meta-analyses showed nimodipine use after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) leads to reduction in incidence of cerebral infarction, persistent neurological deficits, and poor outcomes. Trials administered it for 21 days; however, we assessed whether a shorter duration might be reasonable for a subset of patients.

Methods: We performed a retrospective single-center study to compare outcomes between patients who received ≤14 days, 15-20 days or ≥21 days of nimodipine.

Early obliteration of pediatric brain arteriovenous malformations after stereotactic radiosurgery: an international multicenter study.

Objective: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a treatment option for pediatric brain arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), and early obliteration could encourage SRS utilization for a subset of particularly radiosensitive lesions. The objective of this study was to determine predictors of early obliteration after SRS for pediatric AVMs.

Methods: The authors performed a retrospective review of the International Radiosurgery Research Foundation AVM database.

Adult revision surgery of prior hook-and-rod wire instrumentation for idiopathic scoliosis.

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients treated with spinal fusion may develop adjacent segment disease and curve progression into adulthood. Revision operations can be challenging, especially for adult patients treated with outdated instrumentation such as sublaminar hooks and/or wires. The authors demonstrate revision lumbar spine surgery in a 38-year-old female with scoliosis progression from junctional degeneration below a prior T5-L3 posterior instrumented arthrodesis with a hook-and-rod wire system.

Revision thoracolumbar surgery for flat back deformity: staged ALIF and posterior column osteotomies to avoid three-column osteotomy.

Three-column osteotomies (3COs) can achieve significant alignment correction when revising fixed sagittal plane deformities; however, the technique is associated with high complication rates. The authors demonstrate staged anterior-posterior surgery with L5-S1 ALIF (below a prior L3-5 fusion) and multilevel Smith-Petersen osteotomies to circumvent the morbidity associated with 3CO. The patient was a 67-year-old male with three prior lumbar surgeries who presented with back and leg pain.

Long-term cure of high-grade spinal cord glioma in a pediatric patient who underwent cordectomy.

High-grade spinal cord gliomas are rare and carry a poor prognosis. A number of treatment modalities exist for spinal cord gliomas, but no consensus exists regarding their management. Cordectomy represents a possible option for treating these lesions; however, few cases have been reported in adults, and none have been reported in the pediatric population.

Infundibular dilations of the posterior communicating arteries: pathogenesis, anatomical variants, aneurysm formation, and subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Background: Cerebrovascular infundibular dilations (IDs) are triangular-shaped widenings less than 3 mm in diameter, which are most commonly found at the posterior communicating artery (PCoA). The aims of this systematic review are to elucidate the natural histories of IDs, determine their risk of progression to significant pathology, and discuss potential management options.

Methods: A comprehensive literature search of PubMed was used to find all case reports and series relating to cerebral IDs.

IGF2 ameliorates amyloidosis, increases cholinergic marker expression and raises BMP9 and neurotrophin levels in the hippocampus of the APPswePS1dE9 Alzheimer's disease model mice.

The development of an effective therapy for Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a major challenge to biomedical sciences. Because much of early AD pathophysiology includes hippocampal abnormalities, a viable treatment strategy might be to use trophic factors that support hippocampal integrity and function. IGF2 is an attractive candidate as it acts in the hippocampus to enhance memory consolidation, stimulate adult neurogenesis and upregulate cholinergic marker expression and acetylcholine (ACh) release.

BMP9 ameliorates amyloidosis and the cholinergic defect in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

Bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP9) promotes the acquisition of the cholinergic phenotype in basal forebrain cholinergic neurons (BFCN) during development and protects these neurons from cholinergic dedifferentiation following axotomy when administered in vivo. A decline in BFCN function occurs in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and contributes to the AD-associated memory deficits. We infused BMP9 intracerebroventricularly for 7 d in transgenic AD model mice expressing green fluorescent protein specifically in cholinergic neurons (APP.

Reduced expression of endothelin B receptors and mechanical hyperalgesia in experimental chronic diabetes.

Diabetic neuropathy is one of the major complications of diabetes mellitus. Small nerve fibers degenerate early in the disease, leading to symptoms ranging from hyperalgesia to loss of pain and temperature sensation. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for abnormal pain perception in diabetes have not been identified.

Activin and bone morphogenetic proteins are present in perinatal sensory neuron target tissues that induce neuropeptides.

Previous studies have shown that sensory target tissues induce neuropeptides in naïve sensory neurons, and that activin and bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are capable of inducing neuropeptides associated with nociception in embryonic sensory neurons in vitro. The goal of the present study was to learn if these ligands were available in native sensory neuron target tissues at correct developmental periods to play this inductive role in vivo. Sensory neurons initially contact their peripheral target tissues and begin to express neuropeptides during late embryogenesis, and we demonstrate that activin and BMPs are present in the embryo and neonate to regulate sensory neuron differentiation.