Outcomes in the radiosurgical management of metastatic spine disease.

Purpose: Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is a common treatment option for patients with metastatic tumors of the spine. The optimal treatment-, tumor-, and patient-specific characteristics necessary to achieve durable outcomes remain less well understood given the heterogeneous nature of the patient population this modality typically serves. The objective of this analysis was to better understand the determinants underlying SBRT spine treatment outcomes.

Supracerebellar Transtentorial Approach for Occipital Meningioma to Maximize Visual Preservation: Technical Note.

Background And Importance: Surgery for resection of tentorial meningiomas compressing primary visual cortex carries a significant risk of worsening vision. This concern is especially acute in patients with a preexisting visual deficit. Approaches that involve mechanical retraction of the occipital lobe further threaten visual function.

Intraoperative MRI for resection of intracranial meningiomas.

Objective: To examine whether intraoperative MRI can enhance safety and extent of resection of complex intracranial meningiomas, given its positive role in the resection of malignant brain tumors and pituitary tumors.

Methods: Over a ten-year period, 70 operations were performed on 66 patients with intracranial meningiomas using the compact, mobile PoleStar N20 iMRI navigation system. A retrospective review was conducted examining patient demographics, surgical characteristics, and outcomes.

Congenital Agenesis of the C6 Pedicle Leading to Misdiagnosis of a Traumatically Jumped Facet: A Case Report.

This case report discusses the rare issue of an atrophic cervical pedicle at the C6 level in a patient found unconscious with a jumped facet and an unknown mechanism of injury. A means to discern between traumatic jumped facets versus congenital anomalies is addressed, including missing pedicles, which is encountered at the C6 level in this case. A literature review revealed that the most common level where this occurs is at the C6 level.

Compact Intraoperative MRI: Stereotactic Accuracy and Future Directions.

Background: Intraoperative imaging must supply data that can be used for accurate stereotactic navigation. This information should be at least as accurate as that acquired from diagnostic imagers.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the stereotactic accuracy of an updated compact intraoperative MRI (iMRI) device based on a 0.

Hippocampal-sparing and target volume coverage in treating 3 to 10 brain metastases: A comparison of Gamma Knife, single-isocenter VMAT, CyberKnife, and TomoTherapy stereotactic radiosurgery.

Purpose: Our purpose was to evaluate hippocampal doses and target volume coverage with and without hippocampal sparing when treating multiple brain metastases using various stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) platforms.

Methods And Materials: We selected 10 consecutive patients with 14 separate treatments who had been treated in our department for 3 to 10 brain metastases and added hippocampal avoidance contours. All 14 treatments were planned with GammaPlan for Gamma Knife, Eclipse for single isocenter volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), TomoTherapy Treatment Planning System (TPS) for TomoTherapy, and MultiPlan for CyberKnife.

Fate of the Ophthalmic Artery After Treatment With the Pipeline Embolization Device.

Background: Flow diverters have emerged as a major tool in the treatment of cerebral aneurysms. A crucial issue with the use of flow diverters is the patency of side branches covered by the device, most importantly the ophthalmic artery (OA).

Objective: To assess the patency of the OA after coverage with the pipeline embolization device (PED).

Mesenchymal stem cells from human fat engineered to secrete BMP4 are nononcogenic, suppress brain cancer, and prolong survival.

Purpose: Glioblastoma is the most common adult primary malignant intracranial cancer. It is associated with poor outcomes because of its invasiveness and resistance to multimodal therapies. Human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSC) are a potential treatment because of their tumor tropism, ease of isolation, and ability to be engineered.

Functional imaging in a low-field, mobile intraoperative magnetic resonance scanner: expanded paradigms.

Objective: We previously demonstrated the capability to obtain functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the motor cortex in healthy volunteers using a low-field mobile operating room-based MRI scanner with 0.12-T field strength. Using an expanded (0.

Stereotactic accuracy of a compact intraoperative MRI system.

Objective: To analyze the stereotactic accuracy of the PoleStar N-20, a compact intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) system, based on a 0.15-Tesla (T) magnet.

Methods: An MRI-compatible phantom was scanned after being positioned in both the center of the magnetic field (COF) and the periphery of the field (POF) of the PoleStar N-20 magnet.

Complication avoidance: thoracolumbar and lumbar burst fractures.

Most thoracolumbar and lumbar burst fractures can be treated conservatively. Unstable fractures or fractures resulting in neurologic deficits usually require surgical treatment. Choosing an appropriate surgical approach requires a thorough understanding of the various techniques for decompression, fusion, and stabilization.

Cranial surgery with an expanded compact intraoperative magnetic resonance imager. Technical note.

In this article the authors report the implementation of an expanded compact intraoperative magnetic resonance (iMR) imager that is designed to overcome significant limitations of an earlier unit. The PoleStar N20 iMR imager has a stronger magnetic field than its predecessor (0.15 tesla compared with 0.

Imaging androgen receptor function during flutamide treatment in the LAPC9 xenograft model.

The current understanding of the response of androgen receptor to pharmacologic inhibitors in prostate cancer is derived primarily from serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. In this study, we test whether a novel androgen receptor-specific molecular imaging system is able to detect the action of the antiandrogen flutamide on androgen receptor function in xenograft models of prostate cancer. Adenoviruses bearing an optical imaging cassette containing an androgen receptor-responsive two-step transcriptional amplification system were injected into androgen-dependent and hormone-refractory tumors of animals undergoing systemic time-controlled release of the antiandrogen flutamide.