Decompressive hemicraniectomy, strokectomy, or both in the treatment of malignant middle cerebral artery syndrome.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the impact of a craniotomy for strokectomy (CS) with bone replacement, decompressive hemicraniectomy (DHC), or DHC with a strokectomy (DHC+S) on outcome after malignant supratentorial infarction.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of cases of malignant supratentorial infarction treated by CS (n = 18), DHC (n = 17), or DHC+S (n = 33) at our institution from 2002 to 2008. End points included functional outcome measured by the modified Rankin Scale and incidence of mortality at 1 year.

Iatrogenic cerebral venous sinus occlusion with flowable topical hemostatic matrix.

Object: The use of commercially available topical hemostatic adjuncts has increased the safety profile of surgery as a whole. Cranial surgery has also benefited from the development of numerous agents designed to permit more rapid achievement of hemostasis. Flowable topical hemostatic agents applied via syringe injection are now commonly employed in many neurosurgical procedures, including cranial surgery.

Benign perimesencephalic hemorrhage occurring after previous aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: a case report.

Introduction: Both aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage and benign perimesencephalic hemorrhage are well-described causes of spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage that arise as a result of different pathologic processes. To the best of the authors' knowledge, there have been no reports of both vascular pathologies occurring in the same individual.

Case Presentation: A 51-year-old Caucasian woman with a history of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage presented five years after her initial treatment with ictal headache, meningismus, nausea and emesis similar to her previous bleeding event.

Resveratrol attenuates behavioral impairments and reduces cortical and hippocampal loss in a rat controlled cortical impact model of traumatic brain injury.

Resveratrol (3,5,4'-trihydroxystilbene) is a plant-derived small molecule that is protective against multiple neurological and systemic insults. To date, no studies have explored the potential for resveratrol to provide behavioral protection in adult animals in the setting of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Using 50 male Sprague-Dawley rats, we employed the controlled cortical impact (CCI) model to ascertain whether post-injury administration of resveratrol would reduce the severity of the well-described cognitive and motor deficits associated with the model.

Radiation-induced meningioma concealed by shunt valve artifact: case report.

Objective: Ventricular shunting is a common neurosurgical procedure. Metal-containing shunt components can cause artifacts on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), obscuring visualization of the surrounding tissue. We present the case of a radiation-induced meningioma growing around a ventricular catheter that was not noted at an early stage as a result of artifact from an overlying shunt.

A persistent change in subcellular distribution of calcineurin following fluid percussion injury in the rat.

Calcineurin, a neuronally enriched, calcium-stimulated phosphatase, is an important modulator of many neuronal processes, including several that are physiologically related to the pathology of traumatic brain injury. The effect of moderate, central fluid percussion injury on the subcellular distribution of this important neuronal enzyme was examined. Animals were sacrificed at several time points post-injury and calcineurin distribution in subcellular fractions was assayed by Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry.

Identification and characterization of heterogeneous neuronal injury and death in regions of diffuse brain injury: evidence for multiple independent injury phenotypes.

Diffuse brain injury (DBI) is a consequence of traumatic brain injury evoked via rapid acceleration-deceleration of the cranium, giving rise to subtle pathological changes appreciated best at the microscopic level. DBI is believed to be comprised by diffuse axonal injury and other forms of diffuse vascular change. The potential, however, that the same forces can also directly injure neuronal somata in vivo has not been considered.

Caspase-3-mediated cleavage of amyloid precursor protein and formation of amyloid Beta peptide in traumatic axonal injury.

Immunohistochemical studies demonstrate accumulation of the beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP) within injured axons following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Despite such descriptions, little is known about the ultimate fate of accumulating APP at sites of traumatic axonal injury (TAI). Recently, caspase-3-mediated cleavage of APP and subsequent Abeta deposition was linked to apoptotic neuronal death pathways in hippocampal neurons following ischemic and excitotoxic brain injury.

Traumatically induced axotomy adjacent to the soma does not result in acute neuronal death.

Traumatic axonal injury (TAI), a consequence of traumatic brain injury (TBI), results from progressive pathologic processes initiated at the time of injury. Studies attempting to characterize the pathology associated with TAI have not succeeded in following damaged and/or disconnected axonal segments back to their individual neuronal somata to determine their fate. To address this issue, 71 adult male Sprague Dawley rats were subjected to moderate central fluid percussion injury and killed between 30 min and 7 d after injury.