A Novel Approach to Study Cranial Shape in Children with Normal and Sagittal Synostosis: An Application of Geometric Morphometrics.

To provide appropriate treatment, neurosurgeons and pediatricians must understand the chronological changes of the cranial morphology in normal children and the differences between normal and sagittal synostosis children. However, this issue has remained unresolved due to the traditional methods of analyzing cranial morphology. Therefore, we applied a new and precise method, geometric morphometrics, to understand cranial morphology in children with normal and sagittal synostosis.

Lipoblastomatosis Extended into the Lumbar Spinal Canal in a Child: A Case Report.

Introduction: Lipoblastoma and lipoblastomatosis are rare benign mesenchymal adipose tumors that originate from embryonic white adipocytes and occur most commonly in infancy and early childhood. Lipoblastomas occur in the extremities and trunk, including the retroperitoneum and peritoneal cavity. Therefore, infiltration into the spinal canal has rarely been reported.

Statistical and machine learning approaches to predict the necessity for computed tomography in children with mild traumatic brain injury.

Background: Minor head trauma in children is a common reason for emergency department visits, but the risk of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in those children is very low. Therefore, physicians should consider the indication for computed tomography (CT) to avoid unnecessary radiation exposure to children. The purpose of this study was to statistically assess the differences between control and mild TBI (mTBI).

Cerebellar hemorrhage in a newborn: a case report in association with suspected arterial dissection of the posterior inferior cerebellar artery.

We herein report a 5-day-old baby boy presented with a massive cerebellar hemorrhage due to suspected posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) dissection. He was born by vacuum extraction at the gestational age of 41 weeks with 3370 g birth weight. On the fifth day of life, he developed dyspnea with worsening vital signs.

Intracranial pressure based decision making: Prediction of suspected increased intracranial pressure with machine learning.

Background: Repeated invasive intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring is desirable because many neurosurgical pathologies are associated with elevated ICP. On the other hand, it could become a risk for children to repeat sedation, anesthesia, or radiation exposure. As a non-invasive method, measurements of optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) has been revealed to accurately predict increased ICP.

Recurrent Shoulder Tip Pain After Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Placement Associated with Infectious Peritonitis with Propionibacterium acnes; A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt placement is commonly performed for the treatment of hydrocephalus, and several complications of this procedure are well known. Radiating shoulder tip pain after VP shunt placement has been reported as an unusual complication in a few cases, associated with dislocation of the peritoneal catheter. We described the case of a 9-year-old girl who presented with recurrent radiating shoulder tip pain after VP shunt placement.

Severe posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome resolved with craniectomy.

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) has been thought to be a benign disease, but recently severe cases have been reported with increasing recognition. A 3-year-old girl with congenital nephrotic syndrome had rapidly progressed to coma. Computed tomography (CT) of the head showed striking swelling of the brainstem and transtentorial herniation.

Intraosseous schwannoma of the cervical vertebral body: A case report and review of the literature.

Intraosseous schwannomas (IOS) of non-sacral vertebra are extremely rare; only 14 cases were reported previously. We described a case of IOS involving a cervical vertebral body, successfully treated by surgical resection, with a review of the literature and discussion of this extremely rare tumour.

Imaging of HSV-tk Reporter gene expression: comparison between [18F]FEAU, [18F]FFEAU, and other imaging probes.

Unlabelled: Herpes virus type 1 thymidine kinase (HSV1-tk) and the mutant HSV1-sr39tk are the 2 most widely used "reporter genes" for radiotracer-based imaging. Two pyrimidine nucleoside analogs, [18F]FEAU (1-(2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-d-arabinofuranosyl)-5-ethyluridine) and [18F]FFEAU (1-(2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-d-arabinofuranosyl)-5-(2-fluoroethyl)uridine), have generated recent interest as potential new probes for imaging HSV1-tk and HSV1-sr39tk gene expression.

Methods: We compared [18F]FEAU and [18F]FFEAU with a series of other pyrimidine nucleoside derivatives (including 1-(2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-d-arabinofuranosyl)-5-iodouridine [FIAU]) and with acycloguanosine analogs using a stable HSV1-tk transduced cell line (RG2TK+) and wild-type RG2 cells.

Apnea caused by mesial temporal lobe mass lesions in infants: report of 3 cases.

Apnea as an isolated manifestation of seizures is well described in neonates but is only occasionally observed in infants. This article reports 3 infants presenting with apneic events as the main manifestation of seizure, documented by video electroencephalogram, all with mesial temporal lobe lesions. The 3 infants, after normal pregnancy and delivery at term, showed the first apnea at the age of 4 to 10 months.

Proliferation-dependent changes in amino acid transport and glucose metabolism in glioma cell lines.

Amino acid imaging is increasingly being used for assessment of brain tumor malignancy, extent of disease, and prognosis. This study explores the relationship between proliferative activity, amino acid transport, and glucose metabolism in three glioma cell lines (U87, Hs683, C6) at different phases of growth in culture. Growth phase was characterized by direct cell counting, proliferation index determined by flow cytometry, and [(3)H]thymidine (TdR) accumulation, and was compared with the uptake of two non-metabolized amino acids ([(14)C]aminocyclopentane carboxylic acid (ACPC) and [(14)C]aminoisobutyric acid (AIB)), and [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG).

Assessment of treatment response by autoradiography with (14)C-aminocyclopentane carboxylic acid, (67)Ga-DTPA, and (18)F-FDG in a herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase/ganciclovir brain tumor model.

Unlabelled: Assessments of herpes simplex virus 1 thymidine kinase (HSV-tk)/ganciclovir (GCV) treatment response, early in the course of therapy, are important in the evaluation and clinical management of patients. This study addresses whether imaging amino acid transport, glucose utilization, and passive vascular permeability provides an early indication of treatment response and can predict long-term outcome.

Methods: Fischer 344 rats with intracerebral HSV-tk transduced RG2TK+ xenografts were studied.