Reporting success rates in the treatment of vestibular schwannomas: are we accounting for the natural history?

Stereotactic radiosurgery is generally accepted as one of the best treatment options for vestibular schwannomas. We question whether growth control is an accurate measure of success in vestibular schwannoma treatment. We aim to clarify the success rate of stereotactic radiosurgery and adjust the reported results to the benign natural history of untreated tumors.

The changing face of acoustic neuroma management in the USA: analysis of the 1998 and 2008 patient surveys from the acoustic neuroma association.

Objective: A recent review of the national cancer center registry Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database revealed that in the United States, 25% of Acoustic Neuromas (AN) are managed with observation. Several articles have questioned the aggressive treatment of these slow growing tumors. Concern has been raised that data from the SEER database might be biased towards treatment as patients who chose observation are less likely to be seen at a cancer center.

Catheter fixation and ligation: a simple technique for ventriculostomy management following endovascular stenting.

The object of this study was to describe a unique method of managing ventriculostomy catheters in patients on antithrombotic therapy following endovascular treatment of ruptured intracranial aneurysms. The authors retrospectively reviewed 3 cases in which a unique method of ventriculostomy management was used to successfully avoid catheter-related hemorrhage while the patient was on dual antiplatelet therapy. In this setting, ventriculostomy catheters are left in place and fixed to the calvarium with titanium straps effectively ligating them.

Pediatric intracranial aneurysms: current national trends in patient management and treatment.

Purpose: Pediatric intracranial aneurysms constitute a medical disease process with many unique features that present unique challenges in orchestrating their treatment. Conflicts exist in pediatric aneurysm literature as to whether endovascular therapy is equivalent to surgical therapy in assuring durable aneurysm obliteration in this population.

Materials And Methods: The national Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Kid's Inpatient Dataset was queried using the HCUPnet system.