The effect of lung-protective permissive hypercapnia in intracerebral pressure in patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage and ARDS. A retrospective study.

Objective: Lung protective ventilation has a beneficial effect in treating patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). An effect of this ventilation modality is hypercapnia, which leads to increased cerebral blood flow. Since increased cerebral blood flow can induce brain oedema the question arises whether lung protective ventilation can be applied in patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage.

Endoscopic third ventriculostomy in infants.

Object: The failure rate following endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) in infants younger than 1 year of age has been reported to be higher compared with that of older children. The authors present results of ETVs in such infants and advocate that success or failure of the procedure depends not on the age of the patient but on the cause of the hydrocephalus.

Methods: The authors retrospectively reviewed the management and outcome of 18 ETVs in infants for the treatment of hydrocephalus.

Hydrocephalus in children with posterior fossa tumors: role of endoscopic third ventriculostomy.

Object: Controversy exists regarding the indication for endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) in children with hydrocephalus caused by posterior fossa tumors. The authors present their treatment modalities and discuss the role of ETV in the management of hydrocephalus.

Methods: The authors retrospectively reviewed the cases of 58 children who were admitted to their clinic consecutively with posterior fossa tumors between January 1999 and December 2003.

Endoscopic aqueductoplasty and interventriculostomy for the treatment of isolated fourth ventricle in children.

Objective: There are different approaches for the treatment of isolated fourth ventricle in children, including a suboccipital ventriculoperitoneal shunt, suboccipital craniotomy with microsurgical fenestration, and endoscopic fenestration. We discuss the indications, surgical methods, and outcome of 18 patients who underwent endoscopic treatment for isolated fourth ventricle.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical histories of 18 patients with an isolated fourth ventricle.

Endoscopic aqueductoplasty: stent or not to stent?

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate if the long-term interventricular communication following aqueductoplasty is determined by the etiology of the aqueductal stenosis (AS).

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 27 patients who underwent endoscopic aqueductoplasty or endoscopic interventriculostomy with or without a stent for the treatment of AS or isolated fourth ventricle. Surgeries were performed between July 1997 and June 2003.